


Unforeseen

by AliceMadeley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, F/F, F/M, Physical Abuse, Self Harm, Sexual Abuse, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMadeley/pseuds/AliceMadeley
Summary: When a Hufflepuff with a secret knocks on Remus Lupin's office door, it sets in motion a chain of events for several people in Hogwarts.
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

Remus

I was sat at my desk marking homework when I heard a quiet knock at my office door. I had a lot to do, and the full moon was approaching but I had always promised the students that my door was always open. I wasn’t about to go back on that tonight.  
“Come in,” I called out, laying my quill down.   
The door opened a little way and in the gap I saw one of my Hufflepuff students peek around. “Are you busy?” she asked quietly, if not a little uncertainly.   
I smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. I knew the difficulties of being the shy one at school. “Not at all,” I said mildly. “Come in, Ella.”  
Ella managed to give me a little smile but I could tell something was worrying her. Still, I tried to keep my expression neutral. I didn’t want to spook her, or worry her any more than she was already. Hesitantly, Ella stepped into my office and shut the door quietly behind her. She gave me a little, worried look as she approached my desk and perched on the chair on her side of the desk.   
“What can I do for you?” I asked, prompting her as she didn’t speak.   
She sighed a little. It seemed like she couldn’t quite meet my eye, and she kept her gaze firmly on the floor. Finally, she spoke. “It’s, um…” she trailed off. “I hoped you could help me with something. It’s not – good – but I don’t want anyone getting into trouble. Do you have to – do you have to tell anyone?”  
I frowned slightly, trying to untangle what Ella was trying to tell me. “Right,” I said slowly. “Well, if someone has hurt you – is that what you mean? Has someone done something?”  
She chewed on her lip anxiously, but eventually answered me with a small nod.  
“Not badly,” she added quickly. “It’s just a stupid thing.”  
“Right,” I said again. “So – how can I help?”  
She hesitated again. How reticent she was being about what was going on was starting to worry me. What was Ella so reluctant for me to know? And why didn’t she want me to know it?  
I watched as Ella took a deep breath, and finally she looked up at me. “Should I just show you? It would be much easier to explain.”  
I tilted my head to one side, unsure what she was going to show me. But if this was the best way for her to explain whatever she needed to get off her chest – I was willing to go along with it. “Alright,” I said gently. “If that’s easier.”  
She nodded, but looked away from me and back down at the floor. For a second, it looked like she was steeling herself to do something – but finally with a little sigh, she rolled up one of her sleeves to show, written in thick, black Everlasting Ink, the word “DYKE” etched on her arm. She was biting her lip hard, and I suspected she was trying to hold back tears. My heart immediately went out to the poor girl. I had come face to face with some similarly medieval opinions in my time at school. I knew what the poor girl must be feeling.  
“Ah,” I said softly. “I see.”  
She nodded quickly, but didn’t meet my eyes.  
“I’m sure I can help you get that off,” I reassured her quickly. “Don’t worry about that.”  
She swallowed hard. “Thank you, sir,” she managed to say in a choked voice.   
I held out a hand across the desk and hesitantly she stuck out her arm for me to take hold of. I looked more closely at the black writing; luckily, I had seen writing like this written on fellow pupils during my own time at Hogwarts. It wasn’t too hard to get off if you know how.  
However, I was more worried about Ella’s emotional state. She was obviously upset; and while she had ostensibly come here for my help getting the ink off, I wondered if she wanted to talk as well.  
I took out my wand and waved it over Ella’s arm. The ink faded, and with another wave of my wand, it was gone completely. “There we go,” I said quietly.  
Ella swallowed hard and gave me a smile that I knew was forced. She still wouldn’t meet my eye as she quickly pulled her arm back across the table, pulling her sleeve down. “Thank you, sir,” she repeated.   
I watched her carefully. “No problem,” I said gently. When I spoke again, I chose my words carefully. “Ella, I’m just wondering – would you be able to tell me who did this to you?”  
I hadn’t even finished my sentence before Ella started shaking her head. “I can’t,” she said, trembling in a way that made me think she was holding emotion back. “I just can’t.”  
I gave a little sigh. Bullying was hard to deal with if the victims were too scared to tell teachers who the perpetrators were. “I can make sure that they won’t bother you again,” I offered, but Ella continued to shake her head.  
“I deserved it,” she said quietly. “I am. What they wrote. I am one.”  
I had suspected that our conversation might go in this direction. I had heard the rumours about Ella and another girl in the rumours that went around the staff room. “There’s nothing wrong with that, Ella,” I said gently. I doubted she knew it, but she had definitely come to the right member of staff for this problem. I had gone through all of this at Ella’s age.  
She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I know. I do know that. I would never use that word about anyone else. I just…” She trailed off again, but I knew what she meant.  
Unfortunately I knew as well that I had to push the issue of who had done this. I couldn’t run the risk that they would do something worse to Ella, or to someone else. “How did this come to happen, Ella?” I asked gently.   
She fiddled with a thread on her skirt. “I was coming back to the common room on my own,” she told me finally, sounding exhausted. “They jumped out and grabbed me.”  
I frowned – such a cowardly thing to do. “Can you at least tell me which house they’re in?”  
She sighed. “Slytherin,” she admitted quietly.  
Right. As much as I tried to be fair to all my students, there was something about that answer that did not surprise me in the least. I nodded. “OK, Ella. I’ll have a word with Professor Snape.”  
I watched as she swallowed hard and nodded herself. “Thanks,” she said, with a small, sad smile. Even though we seemed to have gotten to the bottom of the issue, Ella didn’t seem to be feeling any brighter. I was about to speak again when I looked down at Ella’s hands, anxiously tugging on her sleeves so her arms stayed covered – and on the sleeve of her white shirt, just poking out from under her jumper, there was a small stain of what looked like blood.  
“What happened to your other arm, Ella?” I asked cautiously, once again being careful so as to not spook her.  
But even that question seemed to alarm her. With a panicked glance down to her hand, she hurriedly pulled her jumper sleeves down so the shirt wasn’t visible anymore. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “Paper cut.”  
I didn’t believe that for a second but I knew I had to approach this calmly – letting on how worried I was would only make her more reluctant to tell me the truth. “Did they do something else? The group of Slytherins?”  
She shook her head firmly. “No, no,” she said insistently. “It’s nothing. Honestly. No one did it to me.”  
I raised my eyebrows. She wasn’t convincing in the slightest. I knew she was a second away from just leaving my office, and I really didn’t want to have to bring this to her head of house without her consent. I considered for a minute, before deciding to ask the blunt question.  
“Would you be able to show me your arm, please?” I asked, even and calm though I was really quite concerned for the young Hufflepuff.  
Ella’s head snapped up, meeting my eyes at last. I could see a deep pain in them, and I wasn’t surprised when she started to cry. She roughly wiped the tears away with her sleeve, looking like she was trying to take a deep breath but starting to sob instead.  
She looked at me and I could tell she was trying to work out if she could trust me. “Do you promise not to get mad?” she said at last.  
I frowned slightly. Why would I be angry with her? But I held her gaze and nodded. Whatever it was, I was sure it wouldn’t make me angry with her.   
I watched as Ella took a deep breath and, like ripping a plaster off, she quickly pulled up her shirt sleeve. And finally I understood.  
All down Ella’s forearm were cuts, lined up neatly, all over her arm. These were no accidental injuries – and it even seemed unlikely that one of the Slytherins had done this to her. This was deliberate, I was sure of it. Ella was self-harming.  
But I had to ask the blunt question. “Did you do these to yourself?” I asked, quiet and gentle.  
She swallowed hard. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m really sorry. I know it’s stupid. But I can’t help it.” Her arms wrapped themselves around her stomach and she closed her eyes for a second, before looking like she was forcing herself to swallow again. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she choked out, one hand coming up to her mouth.  
Even in the few months I had worked as a teacher, I had learnt to take kids seriously when they said that. I quickly conjured up a plastic basin, and, walking around my desk, I held it up for Ella, placing my other hand gently on her back.   
She looked like she was about to thank me but before she could get the words out, she was violently sick into the basin, once, twice, three times. She was starting to shake now.  
“Hey, hey,” I said, intentionally keeping my voice quiet and calm. “Take a deep breath. You’re OK. I promise.”  
She nodded, and, looking like it took some effort, she took a few deep breaths. Finally, she sat back in the chair a little. “Sorry,” she whispered.  
I shook my head, vanishing the vomit from the basin with my wand but placing it beside the chair in case we needed it again. “Nothing to apologise for,” I said, with a little smile.  
In truth, I felt totally out of my depth. I had never dealt with anything like this before, as a teacher or even when I was a prefect. And on top of this, some of the cuts looked like they could do with medical attention, and Ella was so worried she was making herself physically ill. I was no healer. I briefly considered suggesting we talk to Ella’s head of house; but there had to be a reason why she came to me and not to Professor Sprout in the first place. Quickly, I came to a decision.  
“I think it might be a good idea to go and see Madam Pomfrey,” I said, trying my best to sound calm and assured. “Some of those cuts need looking at. And maybe she can provide you with a Calming Draught. I can understand that you’re really quite upset, Ella.”  
Ella looked panicked for a moment. “She’s going to be so mad-” she blurted out, eyes wide.  
I shook my head quickly. “Madam Pomfrey doesn’t ask difficult questions if you don’t want her to,” I reassured her gently. “Especially if I come with you. I can assure Madam Pomfrey that you and I are going to talk when you are feeling better. If that’s what you want us to do,” I added quickly, slightly afraid I was getting ahead of myself.   
To my relief, Ella nodded. “OK,” she said quietly.  
I gave her another little smile. “Shall we go?” I prompted.  
Ella nodded quickly again. She wrapped her arms around herself and stood up from her chair. I watched for a few seconds to check she was steady on her feet, but when she seemed stable, I stood up myself, flicking my wand at the basin to vanish it. Once again, I placed a hand on her back and guided her with me out of my office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppy is concerned after Ella spends a night in the Hospital Wing.

Poppy

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures enter the Hospital Wing. I turned to see who they were, quickly realising they were a student and a professor. The professor I knew well; Remus had been one of the most memorable patients I had ever had. How could I forget those trips to the Shrieking Shack? 

The student on the other hand, I think I had only met once, and that was only for some painkillers. I wracked my brain to try and remember her name. Nunes, wasn’t it? Didn’t she have a brother in Gryffindor in the year above? 

I bustled out of my office and looked up at Remus for an explanation of why they were there. The girl looked a little pale but otherwise seemed to be fine. “Good evening, Professor Lupin,” I said briskly. “Everything all right?” I looked over to the girl, who was staring at the floor. “Good evening, Miss Nunes.”

The child nodded and mumbled a reply but didn’t look up at me. I looked back up to Remus, who gave me a little smile. 

“Ella has confided in me that she has some injuries that need looking it,” he said mildly, evenly. I suspected he was trying not to panic the girl. And with good reason – when I looked back over at her, tears had started to fall. “She’s also very upset,” he added, unnecessarily, before pausing. “We’ve agreed to talk after you see to her injuries,” he continued, but now he was giving me a significant look. I knew this was his way of requesting that I didn’t ask too many questions.

I nodded solemnly. “Very well,” I said calmly. “Come and take a seat on the bed, Miss Nunes, and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

The child swallowed hard but nodded back at me. She was wiping her face with her sleeve, trying to get rid of the tears. She squeezed her eyes tight shut for a second, then took a deep breath and nodded again. She didn’t speak. I was feeling much more concerned now than upon seeing the child; something wasn’t right, here. 

I led the way over to a bed, a few beds away from any other patients, with Remus following the two of us. I knew not the use the ‘Q’ word, but there wasn’t many students up there that evening. I watched as Miss Nunes hesitantly sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her feet. “Now, what’s the problem?” I asked in my usual no-nonsense tone. 

She looked up at me, make up smeared around her eyes as she continued to cry. She looked over to Remus and then back at me; I could tell the girl was panicking. Her eyes looked like deer caught in the headlights.

I frowned. “We’ll start with a Calming Draught,” I said, without giving the child a choice. She was clearly, as Remus put it, very upset.

I felt a little relieved as Miss Nunes nodded. I hated trying to force Calming Draughts or any other kind of medicine on a child, though it sometimes had to be done. I walked over to the medication cupboard on the other side of the room and opened it with my wand. I had a full stock of Calming Draughts as I always did. They were one of the most useful potions I had access to.

I took a small bottle out of the cupboard and marched back to Miss Nunes on the bed. “Here we go,” I said plainly, handing her the bottle. “Drink, please.”

She nodded again, and with shaky hands put the bottle to her lips and drained it. Instantly, she looked like she was breathing deeper. But she was still perched on the edge of the bed uncertainly. “Come along, sit back, please,” I ordered her, and she did what she was told. I grabbed a box of tissues from the bedside cabinet and passed her one. “You’re covered in make-up,” I told her, more kindly, as she wiped her face properly.

She did look pale, though. With a little frown, I pressed the back of my hand firmly to her forehead. Warm. As I moved back from her again, I noticed her jumper had small stains of what looked like vomit. I peered back to Professor Lupin. “Has she been vomiting?” I asked him plainly. 

He glanced at Miss Nunes. “A little, yes,” he answered with a rueful smile at the child. “But that wasn’t – ah – what brought us here.”

“Very well, then,” I replied, suspicious about what was going on. I looked back to the child. “Come on, please. What’s the matter?”

She looked up at me, and for a moment I expected her to speak. But then she looked past me to the other beds around the large room. “Can you pull the curtain round, please?” she asked, finally speaking. Her voice sounded hoarse; maybe from the acid. 

I frowned again. It was unusual for a child to be this secretive. But it was her right to have privacy. With a nod, I summoned the curtains with my wand. 

Before I closed them, I shared a glance with Remus. “Perhaps I should wait over there,” he said. “Would that be easier, Ella?”

She swallowed hard and for a second didn’t say anything. But finally she nodded.

“I won’t go anywhere,” he reassured her. “I’ll just be sat on one of the chairs by the door.”

She nodded again, and Remus moved away as I flicked my wand at the curtains again to pull them around and shield Miss Nunes and myself from the rest of the ward. I looked straight at the girl. 

“Now, come on,” I said briskly. “What’s the matter?”

Miss Nunes sighed. Finally, she reached down to her sleeve and pulled it up. 

Now, I understood why Miss Nunes was being so secretive; why she was so worried and why she’d needed that Calming Draught. 

“Thank you for showing me,” I said, forcing myself to sound calm and collected. Miss Nunes hung her head but didn’t say anything. Rather than push her for more answers, I looked down to the neat cuts themselves. Some of them looked deep. Now I understood the slight fever too; at least two of them were infected. 

I turned her arm over to properly examine the whole arm. “Right,” I said briskly. “Miss Nunes, I need to treat some of these. I’ll need to keep you in overnight. You've got a nasty little infection starting here and I don't want it getting any worse.”

Before I had even finished my sentence, Ella started shaking her head. “I can’t,” she said in a small but emphatic voice. “I’m fine, honestly – they’re only little – I don’t want anyone to know-” She broke off, squeezing her eyes shut. I didn’t want to have to give her any more Calming Draught but she still seemed highly distressed.

“Now, come along,” I said firmly but gently. “As Professor Lupin knows about this, I don’t need to alert any more teachers. And I would never discuss your case with a pupil. So, for now, this can remain between us.” I paused, unsure how to best deal with the girl without being overly secretive. “I can just inform your teachers that you’re not feeling well. I don’t need to specify.”

I could see an element of visible relief on Miss Nunes’ face, and she relaxed slightly on the bed. “OK,” she agreed, but she still seemed slightly troubled.  
Still, I put it down to the stress, and nodded briskly. “Excellent. Now, let me get you some potion for fever, first of all.” I could have named another five potions and ointments I was going to need to sort out wounds of this sort that had been neglected for so long, but I thought it best not to overwhelm the child.

To my relief, she simply nodded. “Will it stop me feeling queasy?” she asked hesitantly.

I frowned slightly. “No, but I can give you something for that.” I spoke matter-of-factly, but the question worried me slightly. With any hope, the nausea was just from stress and maybe the infection on her arm. “I’ll get you some hospital pyjamas as well. You don’t want to be sat in that jumper, covered in- well, stained.”

She looked ashamedly down at her lap. I hadn’t meant to make the girl feel guilty about throwing up – I saw a vomiting teenager nearly every day in my line of work – but she looked like she had been told off. I looked at her with concern. “Nothing to worry about, my dear,” I said, more gently. 

She didn’t look at me but nodded, though I suspected that was more to placate me than because she believed me. For a moment, I stood looking at Miss Nunes. Something was not quite right here. I had treated enough teenagers to know when something was going on, and something about this whole situation was off. Unfortunately, without any proof – well, actually, without any real idea of what was going on – I couldn’t do anything.

“Is something worrying you, Miss Nunes?” I asked, keeping my tone gentle.

She immediately shook her head. “No, I’m fine,” she said quickly, still not looking at me.

I took a little comfort in the fact that she had promised to talk to Lupin once she was physically recovered. “Hmm. Well, alright. Wait there, please.” If she wouldn’t talk to me, there was little I could do. 

As I left Miss Nunes, I remembered that Lupin was waiting at the door. Perhaps he hadn’t recognised the signs of infection when he saw her arm and thought she would just need bandages. In any case, I sent him on his way, assuring him that I would send Miss Nunes to come and talk with him when she was discharged. 

The rest of the evening passed with little event. To my relief, Miss Nunes complied with every potion I gave her and allowed me to treat her arm with no objection. The infection, however, had been worse than I had thought, and I was seriously considering keeping Miss Nunes in for another night. But I decided to keep that news for the next day. After all, she might respond well overnight.

I normally turned the lights off in the Hospital Wing at 10pm every night. I looked out of my office window onto the ward around 9:45pm and saw Miss Nunes hopping out of bed. I frowned slightly when I saw she was heading to the bathroom. Most of me doubted that she was going to hurt herself in the bathroom, and I had coaxed her into getting changed into hospital pyjamas by that point so she couldn’t have anything in her pockets. Still, I wasn’t fully comfortable allowing the girl to lock herself in a room alone.

I bustled out of my office over to where Miss Nunes was walking. “Miss Nunes?” I asked, keeping my voice calm. “Everything alright?”

She looked over at me, surprised and – possibly – a little guiltily. “I’m just going to the loo,” she told me quietly. “I’m fine.”

I nodded before I spoke plainly. “I’d prefer it if I could accompany you,” I said calmly. She looked at me alarmed, before I continued. “I will turn my back,” I assured her. “I just don’t want you to – be hurt, Miss Nunes.”

I knew I hadn’t worded it very well when I saw anger flash over Miss Nunes’ face, quickly followed by shame. “I’m not going to do anything,” she said, with a slightly hard note in her voice that I hadn’t heard before in the gentle Hufflepuff. 

I sighed. I didn’t feel comfortable with this at all. “Very well,” I said at last. “Go on.”

Miss Nunes didn’t meet my eyes but nodded. “Thank you,” she said, still with that hard note in her voice, before turning to go into the bathroom.

I sighed again but made my way back into my office to watch at the window. All my other patients were settled now for the night; and it was with great relief that a few moments later, I saw Miss Nunes return from the bathroom and climb into bed. With a flick of my wand, I dimmed the lights and set about the paperwork I needed to get done that night.

It was later on in the night when I stepped out of my office to restock the potions in the cabinet and was halfway there when I heard a quiet noise across the ward. I folded my arms, and walked quickly over to the source of the noise. I was nearly at the end of the ward when I realised it was coming from Miss Nunes’ bed. This close, it was clear that the noise I could hear was her trying to stifle tears.

I approached her bed carefully. She was lying on her side, curled up, facing away from me. When I reached her, I crouched down and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

She started in surprise but only cried harder. I gently rubbed her shoulder. “Come along, Ella,” I said softly. The time for full names had passed. “You’re going to be all right, my dear. What’s wrong?”

I saw that her nails were dug into her arm as she gulped in air, trying to stop crying. “I’m OK,” she managed to choke out.

“Sit up for me, please,” I said, keeping my voice level and soothing. I flicked my wand at the lamp by her bed and it lit up slightly so we would at least be able to see each other’s faces. I saw the child wipe her face harshly to clear up the tears before she sat up in her bed, though she didn’t meet my gaze. “What’s going on, Ella?” I asked her, with concern.

She shook her head. “I’m just emotional,” she said in a shaky voice, clearly holding herself back from sobbing. “Just a nightmare,” she added quickly – but the girl looked so exhausted, I was starting to doubt she had even been to sleep at all.

“I can give you some Dreamless Sleep,” I offered, but the girl shook her head furiously.

“It’s addictive,” she blurted out quickly. I got the impression she had pulled the first thing she had thought of out of her head. 

I frowned. “I suppose,” I replied, a little suspiciously. “Well, at least let me get you a hot drink. And a Calming Draught.”

This time, to my relief, she nodded. “OK,” she said in a small voice.

“Try and take deep breaths,” I advised as I pulled myself up to stand again. She nodded.

I spent the rest of the night keeping a close eye on Miss Nunes after I had made sure she drank both the Calming Draught and the cup of milky tea, and I watched as she tossed and turned all night. Something wasn’t right here. Not right at all.

In the morning, when I opened the curtains by her bed, she saw up immediately, looking totally exhausted but deeply relieved that the night was over. “Can I go back to classes?” she asked quickly.

I sighed, pointing my wand at her forehead to take her temperature – it was just about back to normal. She hadn’t been sick again in the night and she really did seem desperate to get out of here.

“Very well,” I said finally, though it was rather against my better judgement. “As long as you return here after dinner for me to change the dressings on your arm. And you speak to Professor Lupin as soon as possible. Is that a deal?”

She nodded quickly, picking up her school uniform from where I had left it after washing it in the night. “Thank you,” she said politely. I nodded in reply, but somehow I knew that there was still something we were missing here.


	3. Chapter 3

Remus

I woke early the next morning. I was aching slightly, but that was nothing new. Slowly I washed and dressed, and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

As I entered the hall, I noticed Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones in deep conversation at the Hufflepuff table. Ella immediately popped into my mind. I hoped she was still in the Hospital Wing, rather than skipping breakfast. I was still reeling from the events of last night. No child had really trusted me like that before and I was a little nervous about whether I was going to be good enough.

I reached the teachers’ table and sat down in my usual seat next to Professor McGonagall. However, this morning, I leaned around Professor McGonagall and addressed Professor Sprout. “Pomona,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Ella Nunes – did she spend the night in the Hospital Wing?”

Professor Sprout looked surprised. “Yes, she did,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”

I cleared my throat and sat back in my chair, relieved. “She told me last night that she wasn’t feeling well,” I told her, deciding to keep as close to the truth as possible without betraying Ella’s confidence. “I took her up there. Just wondering how she was getting on.”

Professor Sprout nodded, going back to her breakfast. “Poppy didn’t specify, but I don’t think it was much to be worried about.”

That was a relief. I could feel Professor McGonagall’s eyes on me but I didn’t look up to meet her gaze, taking some toast instead. Professor McGonagall had seen me concealing the exact truth too many times.

It was only as I was leaving the Great Hall and returning to my office to grab my materials for morning classes that it occurred to me that Ella should be in my first class that morning. When I got to the classroom, the Hufflepuffs were lining up outside the classroom as usual; and I could quickly see that Ella wasn’t present. Presumably, Madam Pomfrey had kept her in a little longer. Maybe some of the cuts had been more infected than I thought.

But ten minutes into the class, the door to the classroom opened slightly. To my surprise, Ella slipped through the gap. “Sorry, sir,” she said quietly. “I was in the Hospital Wing.”

I gave her a small smile. “Yes, Professor Sprout told me,” I said evenly, deciding on a half truth. “Come on in, take a seat.”

Ella nodded quickly and hurried to her normal seat next to Leanne. I noticed that the other Hufflepuff girls looked relieved that she had turned up. It occurred to me that, from their point of view, Ella had just never come back to their dorm last night.

I quickly tried to focus myself and the Hufflepuffs back on the lesson, but I spent the rest of the hour feeling slightly distracted. Finally, the bell rung and the class began to pack up their things and make their way out of the class.

“Ella?” I called out, above the hubbub of the class. “Can I see you for a moment?”

I saw a brief flash of panic cross Ella’s face, but she nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. Hannah and Susan exchanged a worried look before frowning back at Ella. She caught their eye and shook her head slightly. It made me wonder just how much Ella’s friends knew about what was going on with her.

Still, the other girls filed out of the classroom with the others and within a moment, Ella and I were alone. I smiled reassuringly at her. “Nothing to worry about,” I assured her. “I just wanted to make sure you’re OK.”

Ella swallowed hard but met my gaze. “Yeah, I’m OK,” she said quietly. She hesitated before adding, “I have to go back to the Hospital Wing later for more dressings.”

“Ah,” I said with a rueful smile. “Well, Madam Pomfrey knows what she’s doing. I’m sure she will do whatever’s best for your arm.”

She looked down, almost ashamed. “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice.

I shook my head immediately. “No, Ella,” I said gently. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

There was a short silence. I didn’t want to go in too hard on this girl and spook her. But I needed the truth.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” I asked eventually. “I can give you a note for your next teacher to explain your absence.” I watched her closely.

Ella hesitated, but slowly looked up at me. “OK,” she said quietly. “If I’m not a bother.”

I gave her a small smile. “Not at all.”

She looked slightly relieved, and a little more comfortable, and she followed me across the classroom back to my office. I gestured to the seat she had taken the previous night, before flicking my wand at the kettle to boil. “Do you take milk?”

Ella shuffled awkwardly in her chair. “Um, yeah. Please. Weak and milky, please.”

I nodded. It only took a moment to make two cups of tea and set one in front of Ella. “There we go,” I said quietly, seating myself in my chair behind my desk. I was about to apologise that I had no biscuits when I realised I still had a stock of chocolate bars in case the Dementors went where they shouldn’t. I rummaged in the cupboard below my desk and pulled out two small bars.

“Chocolate?” I offered with a little smile.

To my surprise, I got a smile back. “Thank you, sir,” she said, taking the bar from me. She looked down at her lap as she unwrapped the bar and took a small bite.  
I carefully allowed a calm silence as I unwrapped my chocolate and took a bite too. Finally, I spoke, keeping my tone quiet and gentle. 

“Is there anything you want to talk to me about, Ella?” I asked.

Ella didn’t look up at me, keeping her gaze on her lap as she bit her lip. I sensed that she was in two minds whether to talk to me. I stayed quiet, waiting for her to answer.

“Everything just feels a bit much at the moment,” she said softly at last. “I can’t – I can’t cope on my own…”

I took a sip of tea to give myself time to think. “Some kids can be very cruel,” I replied cautiously, keeping my gaze on Ella. 

To my surprise, Ella looked slightly wrongfooted. Maybe that wasn’t what she was talking about. She hesitated. “They do it to all the Hufflepuffs,” she said slowly. “It’s not like it’s just me…”

“That doesn’t make it alright,” I reminded her with a small frown.

“Yeah, I know,” she said tiredly. I kicked myself for speaking without thinking. I knew I had put her back up a little. She took a deep breath and stared away from me, down at the floor. “I do it because I’m useless and I’m pathetic and I’m a waste of space,” she told me flatly, though I suspected if she looked up at me, I might see the start of some tears. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

I was confused. Every time I spoke to Ella, I felt like I was missing something just out of reach. I didn’t know how to probe it from her. If I was honest with myself, I was starting to get really quite concerned for this girl. “I just want to understand,” I told her gently. Carefully I continued. “You’re not any of those things, Ella. You’ve got people around you who really care about you.”

Ella stayed quiet. I could tell she didn’t believe me.

“Is there someone who tells you that you’re- those things?” I asked carefully. But to my surprise, Ella’s head snapped up to look at me and her eyes looked full of pain. The tears I had suspected were forming were now rolling down her face.

“It doesn’t matter!” she burst out, all trace of her usual quiet voice gone. “It doesn’t matter because they’re right, everyone thinks they’re right, and I just can’t-”  
She broke off and I noticed she was holding herself so tightly that her fingers were digging into her arm. She roughly brushed any trace of tears away with her sleeve, taking shaky breaths. “I have to go,” she half-sobbed, and before I could do anything, Ella turned and ran out of my office.

I took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of my nose. That wasn’t how I wanted that conversation to go. What was I to do next? Part of me wanted to try and find Ella but I wasn’t sure if that would actually help even if I did manage to find her. It was a big castle and likely she was holed up in her dorm or a bathroom somewhere. I doubted she would turn up for her next lesson. 

I knew I should let Professor Sprout know. It wasn’t just the self-harm; clearly something was really bothering the girl and I was getting concerned that it was something more serious than the usual things that bother thirteen-year-olds. It wasn’t how I had wanted to handle things but I was worried now that Ella was going to hurt herself again.

Luckily my next lesson wasn’t until after lunch, so I put my marking into my bag and headed down to the staff room. As I pushed open the door, I immediately saw Professor Sprout, deep in conversation with Professor McGonagall. They seemed surprised when I sat down in the chair next to them.

“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, trying to sound calm and collected even while I was ruminating on my exchange with Ella. “But I’m concerned about a student.”

Professor McGonagall looked sharply at me and Professor Sprout frowned. “Who is it?” asked Professor McGonagall with concern. 

I sighed. “Ella Nunes.” Professor Sprout looked surprised that I was bringing up Ella again. As far as I knew, Ella had always been much too quiet to cause any problems. “She came to see me last night because a group of Slytherins had written – a homophobic slur – on her arm and she couldn’t get it off. But then she confided in me that-” I had to pause to take a deep breath and steady myself. “She confided in me that she was self-harming.”

Professor McGonagall closed her eyes in horror while Professor Sprout grimaced at me, looking deeply concerned. I had to continue. “So I took her up to Poppy. She had a look and must have kept Ella in overnight. The cuts did look infected. But Ella came back to my class this morning and I tried to talk to her after the class but she got quite upset. And bolted.”

I watched as both professors looked horrified. “Oh dear,” said Professor Sprout slowly after a moment. “That’s not – that’s not what we want.”

“No, it isn’t,” I agreed tiredly.

Professor McGonagall sighed. “She’s always been a quiet child,” she noted slowly. “Her brother, he’s in my house – he’s a handful. But Miss Nunes has stayed much quieter. I never thought she was keeping anything back…” She looked upset. McGonagall was usually so stern, it was odd seeing her like this. But I knew from my own time at Hogwarts that McGonagall cared deeply about all her students, even those in other houses.

Professor McGonagall shook her head, and reached out and gripped my shoulder. “We’ll find her,” she assured me. She turned to Professor Sprout. “What lesson is she meant to be in now?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella gets found by the worst possible person.

** Severus **

“In,” I ordered dully to the line of Hufflepuffs waiting outside my classroom. “Silently.”

They did as I said – Hufflepuffs tended to be well-behaved. I did notice the Abbott girl give another girl a worried look but I didn’t ascribe much importance to it. Teenage worries, no doubt.

I swept up the aisle between the two sets of desks, and sat down at my own desk to take the register. At the back, I heard whispering and quickly I sent a glare to quieten them. Without any preamble, I started to call out names for the register. I was halfway through when I reached a name that no one answered. I sighed.

“Ella Nunes,” I repeated. I looked up at the class and realised I couldn’t see her. “Where is Miss Nunes?” I asked irritably.

Miss Abbott looked at Miss Bones again before piping up. “We’re not sure, sir,” she replied, reddening a little as the class’ attention was on her. “She had to speak to Professor Lupin – and she was poorly last night so maybe she’s gone back to the Hospital Wing?”

Trust Lupin to disrupt my class. I sighed. “Fine,” I said, bored. Either Miss Nunes would turn up to my class or she would get detention. I continued with the register and then the class without too much thought.

Before too long, the Hufflepuffs were packing up their ingredients and their cauldrons again as the lesson had passed without event. There were one or two morons in the class, but most of the students were not as shoddy as critics of Hufflepuff house would have one believe.

I was returning to the staffroom when I felt a sudden chill swish through me. “Careful!” I snapped at the ghost who had just flown through me. Moaning Myrtle, of all ghosts.

She looked at me, half-delighted. “Oh but _sir_ ,” she said, looking like she was hiding glee. “She’s cut herself deep this time, there’s so much _blood_ …”

I looked up at her and glared. I didn’t have time for this. “Is a student hurt?” I asked, bored of the interaction with the ghost already.

Myrtle looked mildly affronted, like she wished she was causing more panic in me than she was. Still, her smirk reappeared when she got to deliver more bad news. “Oh yes,” she replied, a glint in her eye. “The Hufflepuff girl! Slashing her arm up!”

No doubt, the Hufflepuff girl who had been absent from my class this morning. “Get Pomfrey,” I ordered her dully.

Myrtle cackled as she flew off in the opposite direction of the Hospital Wing. Clearly, she wasn’t going to get Pomfrey. I closed my eyes for a second before sweeping into the bathroom that Myrtle had come out of. Immediately I saw what the ghost had been talking about. From one locked cubicle, there was a pool of blood seeping out of the side of the cubicle, and I could hear a quiet sobbing coming from that direction.

I felt suddenly a little out of my depth but pushed through it. I approached the cubicle. “Out,” I ordered the child, forcing myself to keep my voice harsh. “Now.”

The sobbing only got louder. I sighed irritably. “I know you’re bleeding. Come out or I will force my way in.”

Miss Nunes, however, only responded by continuing to cry. I heard a little noise of pain like she had once again hurt herself. I realised that I needed to act here. The child was being stupid, of course, but the last thing I needed was for her to haemorrhage in a student bathroom.

I drew myself up. “I will take the door off,” I threatened, but I was quickly realising that just threatening probably wasn’t going to help in this instance. The girl clearly wasn’t going to listen to me.

When she once again didn’t answer me, I knew I had no choice. “Fine,” I intoned darkly as I raised my wand. I pointed it at the stall door, and with a flick, the door unlocked, and I saw Miss Nunes sat on the floor.

The scene didn’t surprise me, but I still felt myself take a small intake of breath. Miss Nunes was covered in blood, with a large patch on her shirt where she had been holding her injured arm against her stomach and it had spilled over into the pool of blood that I had seen leaking out of the cubicle. She was sobbing, tears streaming down her face, covered in mascara and with a small smudge of blood across her chin. She barely even seemed to notice me.

“Stupid girl,” I muttered. Much as I wanted to clean up the blood and leave the child to sort herself out, the cut was deep and needed proper medical attention. “Get up,” I told her.

But Miss Nunes ignored me again, only shaking her head. I sighed impatiently. Pushing my sleeve up off my hand to prevent me from getting any blood on it, I reached down and grabbed the girl’s upper arm to pull her to standing. But as soon as I touched her, I felt a harsh, stinging pain on my hand. I retracted my hand quickly. I looked at it – it was scalded. The girl had burned me, presumably instinctively.

“Detention,” I said harshly, even as I waved my wand over my hand and it stopped hurting. “If you don’t get up and follow me to the Hospital Wing, it will be a month of detentions. Do you hear me? Get up, now.”

I flashed my darkest scowl at her and refused to look away. “Now,” I repeated.

But Miss Nunes stayed curled up, only continuing to sob. I sighed again but in truth I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. Pupils didn’t disobey me like this. I was starting to wish I had ignored Myrtle flying through me and left her to find another professor.

I glanced back down at the girl, but she was much the same. I folded my arms and swept out of the bathroom into the corridor. Looking around, I saw the answer as Lupin walked down the corridor towards me.

“Lupin,” I said smoothly. “I’ve got an incident to deal with that I’m sure will be perfectly in your skill set.” I kept my voice harsh and sarcastic, partly because it was Lupin but partly to hide my ineptitude in the encounter with the Nunes girl. I flicked my head towards the bathroom.

Lupin smiled at me. “Of course, Severus,” he said, annoyingly calm. “What’s the problem?”

I glared at him, but then smirked. “One of our precious Hufflepuffs has decided to become a cutter,” I said silkily as I kept my eyes on him.

Lupin’s expression immediately became one of concern. This was fine with me. It was his mess now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus takes Ella up to the Hospital Wing again.

** Remus **

I knew I needed to get into the bathroom to Ella quickly, but I made sure that I stopped to glare at Snape. Being unpleasant to me was one thing, but endangering a pupil with an attitude like the one he had just shown me… He had gone too far and I had already decided to report him to Dumbledore for the comments he had just made.

But for the minute, my focus had to be Ella. I strode into the bathroom quickly, but it wasn’t hard to find her. She was curled up in a stall, surrounded by a pool of blood. I swore internally. This was a lot of blood. Her head was resting on her knees and I could see she was shaking.

I approached carefully. “Ella?” I said, very gently, trying not to sneak up on her.

Ella didn’t stop crying, but at least looked like she tried to take a deep breath. I felt a little encouraged by this. Severus, presumably, had been harsh with her if not overtly verbally abusive; the very small positive that I could see about this is that hopefully Ella would see the difference between myself and Snape more clearly.

I slowly crouched down next to her. I flicked my wand at the blood on the floor to vanish it, but I didn’t dare to try anything with the blood over Ella’s clothes just yet. For a moment, I hesitated over whether I should touch her or not; finally, I cautiously reached over and laid a hand on Ella’s back.

To my slight surprise, Ella didn’t flinch away, but let me keep my hand there. Encouraged by this, I spoke again. “What’s happened, Ella?” I asked quietly, though I knew the answer.

She shook her head, still shaking, her head still resting on her knees. “I’ve fucked up,” she almost whispered.

I had a sudden urge to pull Ella into a hug but I knew that probably wasn’t the best idea. “Not to worry,” I replied, forcing myself to keep my voice steady. “Can I see what you’ve done?”

She gave a large sob, but managed to stifle the next one and looked like she was forcing herself to breathe more steadily. At last she lifted her head to look at me. Tears were still running down her face. For a moment she held her injured arm close to her stomach, but though she had to look away from me again, she hesitantly showed me her arm.

When I saw the wound, I took an involuntary little breath in. It was deep, to say the least. Keeping one hand on Ella’s back, I cautiously took her arm in my hand to have a proper look. I waved my wand over it, trying to get it to close up at least a little before we had to make our way to the Hospital Wing. But even as soon as I had gotten it to look a little better, it sprang back open. Unsure exactly what to do, I took off my cardigan and folded it up before pressing it to Ella’s arm to try and stem the flow of blood.

She grimaced slightly in pain and I gave her a small, apologetic smile. “Ella, Madam Pomfrey is going to need to see this,” I told her softly. “We can go there now, and she’ll sort you out.”

Ella closed her eyes. “Everyone is going to see…” she mumbled to me, but I shook my head.

“It’s lesson time,” I reassured her. “All the students will be in lessons or the library. If we go now then no one has to see. Would that be alright?”

She took a shaky breath in. Finally she nodded.

I gave her a small smile. “Can you stand? You’re not dizzy?”

Ella shook her head and started to stand, using her unhurt arm to push up from the floor. I kept my hand on her back to steady her, and I felt her sway as she managed to stand. Her face paled a little and I moved my hand so she was supported across her back by my whole arm. I didn’t want her collapsing on me and hurting herself any more than she had already.

“Can you keep pressing down on this for me?” I asked. Ella didn’t respond but silently moved her hand to take the place of mine, pressing my cardigan down on her wound. I felt like she might be in shock, a little bit.

Now I had a free hand, I took out my wand again and waved it a few times to clear up the remaining patches of blood in the bathroom stall. I couldn’t help but notice a few splashes of sick on the bathroom floor. Had she been throwing up again? Did she just have a really weak stomach?

I frowned but now wasn’t the time to start asking. “Ready?” I asked instead. Shaky and pale as she was, Ella nodded slightly. I was relieved, though that wasn’t to say I wasn’t daunted by the thought of getting this girl all the way to the Hospital Wing without her passing out on me.

Slowly we made our way out of the bathroom and into the corridor. I looked around quickly, but the corridors were as quiet as I had told Ella they would be. I couldn’t deny I was deeply relieved.

I searched for an appropriate topic of conversation. I wanted to keep her distracted, not just to keep her walking, but also to make this journey as settled and calm for her as it possibly could be. I was confident that we both knew that Ella was going to have to be part of a very difficult conversation when we got to the Hospital Wing.

“I hear Susan’s guinea pig is settling in well,” I said at last, my tone mild.

To my surprise, Ella got a tiny smile on her face, though she still looked anxious and exhausted. “I didn’t think any professors knew about Stuart,” she commented in a slightly hoarse voice.

I smiled myself. “Well, I don’t think we all do,” I admitted. “Professor McGonagall is still – ah - none the wiser. But when Susan started asking me about fox-repellent spells on the same day that Professor McGonagall lost a guinea pig from your Transfiguration class… I did rather have an inkling of what was going on.”

Again I thought I saw a little smile. “Don’t tell McGonagall?” she asked, her voice still quiet but a little lighter.

“ _Professor_ McGonagall, Ella,” I reminded her, but I turned my head to catch her eye and gave her a small wink. Though there were some school rules – largely those about bullying and disrupting other’s learning – that I stuck to firmly, there was still a part of me that still felt like a Marauder and I tended to ignore misdemeanours like pranks. Or, as in Susan’s case, secretly keeping a guinea pig as a pet in the grounds.

I didn’t feel totally confident that Ella would be able to walk alone and she was wobbling even as I kept my arm firmly around her back, but we were making progress in getting to the Hospital Wing. We were only a few corridors away when I heard footsteps coming around the corner. I panicked for a split second, and I felt Ella stiffen as she looked up at me as if to ask what to do.

“Just keep walking,” I said to Ella, very softly.

The student came walking around the corner before Ella could reply. I recognised the girl – she was also in Hufflepuff but a year below Ella. Ella stared at the floor as the younger girl looked from me to Ella in concern. “Are you OK, Ella?” she burst out, eyes wide.

I gave her a smile. “Back to your lesson, please, Nora,” I told her firmly.

Hesitantly, Nora nodded. “Sorry,” she said distractedly, her eyes still on Ella.

Ella stared down at the floor, keeping her eyes deliberately away from Nora’s. Soon, Nora’s footsteps faded as she headed back to whatever class she was supposed to be in, and I finally looked down at Ella. Tears weren’t falling this time, but Ella was biting hard on her lip again.

“She’s going to tell everyone,” said Ella in a tiny voice.

I shook my head. “I’m sure she just thinks you got injured in class,” I tried to reassure her, but I could tell I had lost a small something from Ella and we walked the rest of the way to the Hospital Wing in silence.

As soon as we walked through the door, Madam Pomfrey hurried over, panic on her face. “What on _Earth_ -” she began, looking from me to Ella. I looked over to Ella – and to my alarm, her face had gone even paler and there was a small pool of blood forming on her sock beneath her arm where my cardigan had become totally saturated with blood.

“Let’s get her sat down,” I interrupted, trying to keep my voice calm so as not to alarm Ella.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Yes, yes,” she said quickly, rushing round to Ella’s other side. The three of us moved over to the nearest bay, where I helped Ella onto a bed.

“Thank you,” she said very quietly, sounding a bit woozy. It panicked me a bit that sitting on the bed didn’t seem to be helping her regain any of the colour in her face. On the other side of the bed, Madam Pomfrey peeled away my cardigan to have a better look at Ella’s arm.

She grimaced as soon as she saw the gaping wound. “Well, you’re going to have a nasty scar,” she said. I gave her a sharp look, but even as soon as she had spoken, she seemed to realise that she had sounded judgemental. “Never mind, never mind,” she added quickly. “Ella, my dear, I’m going to get you some blood replenishing potion. Wait there. Don’t get up,” she warned her before bustling away.

“She thinks I’m a twat,” said Ella, still quiet.

I didn’t bother telling her off for swearing. Instead I shook my head. “She’s just worried about you,” I told her. “She doesn’t want you to be hurt.”

Ella didn’t reply but I could tell she was frustrated. Whether she was frustrated with herself or myself and Madam Pomfrey, I wasn’t sure.

Madam Pomfrey came hurrying back over with a big bottle of what I assumed was blood-replenishing potion. She poured out a large glass of it and handed it to Ella. “Drink all of that,” she instructed her. “Quickly, please. It’s not a pleasant taste but you need it.”

Ella took the glass wordlessly and with a glance up at Madam Pomfrey, took a large gulp. She grimaced at the taste but swallowed. “Keep going,” urged Madam Pomfrey but Ella didn’t need the encouragement, forcing herself to drink the whole glass in one go.

To my relief, she instantly started looking a little bit better. I exchanged a glance with Madam Pomfrey who looked similarly relieved. “Good, good,” said Madam Pomfrey, a bit calmer. “Right, I need to work on the wound now. This is going to hurt, Ella,” she warned her.

Ella looked down at her lap. “OK,” she said faintly. While she left her injured arm for Madam Pomfrey to see, she curled the other arm around her stomach protectively. She suddenly looked so small and vulnerable that I once again had the urge to hug her. I settled for laying a hand on her back again.

I felt Ella stiffen in pain the second Madam Pomfrey touched the wound with her wand, her face grimacing as she squeezed her eyes tight shut. Madam Pomfrey didn’t look up but concentrated on continuing to work on the injury. She knew much more about what she was doing than I had done, and though it took her several minutes, she seemed to be managing to get the gaping cut to close. Finally, she sat back.

“Right,” she said matter-of-factly. “It needs bandaged, but that should do it for the moment. If it breaks open again then I might need to send you to St Mungo’s. And you’ll need to come back here every night for at least a week. A wound like this will be extremely vulnerable to infection. Especially if – what did you use, Ella?”

Ella, who had still been staring down at her lap, looked guilty. She hesitated for a moment before she silently fished in her pocket and pulled out a Muggle razor blade. She didn’t exactly offer it to Madam Pomfrey but didn’t resist when the nurse reached out and took it from her hand. It looked old and possibly even a bit rusty. Madam Pomfrey sighed and glanced up at me.

“You’re going to cause yourself real problems using something old like this,” Madam Pomfrey said, disapproving.

I knew as soon as she said this that she had been too harsh; I was hardly surprise when Ella suddenly looked up at the two of us, tears brimming. She burst out, “fine! I’ll just fuck up my arm with my wand next time and it’ll be fine!”

She stared back down at her lap but was obviously upset. I quickly glanced up at Madam Pomfrey, who was about to speak again, and shook my head ever so slightly to ask her to let me speak instead.

“No one wants you to hurt yourself, Ella,” I said gently. “But we all know that it’s hard to stop something like this.” I tilted my head at her. “We just want you to be safe if you absolutely have to do it.”

Ella gave a little frustrated sigh but nodded, blinking fast. She looked ashamed at her outburst.

On the other side of the bed, Madam Pomfrey sighed. “You’re obviously very – fragile – at the moment, Ella,” she said, her voice more patient this time. “I’m wondering if, perhaps, it would be good for you to go home for Christmas a week early.”

Ella’s head snapped up and she frowned at Madam Pomfrey. “Tomorrow?” she asked, with something in her tone that I couldn’t quite fathom.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Your brother will need to stay until the end of term, but you have a little sister, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be nice to see her? And your mum and dad?”

“Stepdad,” Ella corrected, almost automatically, but didn’t say anything else. Something in her body language seemed to have closed off somehow.

“Well yes, stepdad,” said Madam Pomfrey, a little dismissively. She sighed. “Obviously I would need to talk to Professor Sprout, but I really think it would do you good, Ella.”

To my surprise, when Ella looked up, it wasn’t at Madam Pomfrey, but at me. Her expression was guarded and blank, and I knew that somehow we had blown any chance of getting Ella to talk about what she was so upset about. I offered a small smile, but instead of returning it, Ella looked back down at her lap.

“Are you going to tell them about – about the cuts?” she asked in a small but much harder voice.

Madam Pomfrey and I exchanged a quick glance, but before I could say or ask anything, Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Yes. I think we have to.”

Ella kept her eyes firmly down. “Even if – they’ll be really mad?”

“I’m sure they just want you safe,” said Madam Pomfrey. Again, her voice was kind but I couldn’t help but feel like she was being a bit dismissive again. Ella could be right – a lot of parents wouldn’t understand the reasons why Ella was doing this to herself. Especially since none of her teachers nor Madam Pomfrey seemed able to find about why she was doing it either. 

Ella didn’t speak for a minute. For a second, she looked up at me and I thought I detected a flicker of fear – but as I opened my mouth to speak, to ask, Ella looked back down to her lap.

“Yeah, OK,” she said impassively. “If Professor Sprout says it’s OK. I’ll go home.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minerva gets unexpected visitors.

** Minerva **

I sat marking homework in my office, a few days after Christmas. I knew I only had a few days of relative peace and quiet before the students returned, and I was keen to make headway in my huge pile of marking before that happened. Still, I had a tin of biscuits, kindly given to me by Filius for Christmas, open on my desk and I was using that to spur me on.

I was halfway through an essay written by a sixth year, trying to concentrate on how well they understood what they were writing about, when there was a sudden bang directly in front of my desk. I jumped and my head snapped up to look at my fireplace where the noise had come from, drawing my wand instinctively.

But before I could even gather my thoughts, three bodies hurtled out of the grate, landing hard on the stone floor of my office. “What-” I managed to get out before the middle body looked up at me in panic.

It was Jack Nunes, a fourth year student, one of my Gryffindors. “Close the Floo connection,” he half-pleaded, urgency etched on his face and in his words. “Please, Professor!”

I opened my mouth to ask something – just to get a handle on what on Earth was happening – but the look on Jack’s face made it clear to me that something dangerous was afoot. I pointed my wand sharply at the grate and turned the Floo connection off.

I hurried over to the group. Jack was pulling himself up off the floor, his arm around his sister Ella on one side, helping her to stand up. On his other side, he was holding on to the hand of another small body – it was only when the body looked up at me, I realised that it was a child, presumably their younger sister. How old was she, eight or nine?

“What is going on?!” I demanded of Jack, but when Jack looked up at me again, the urgency wasn’t gone.

“Ella,” he said, looking terrified.

I frowned but looked over to Ella Nunes properly for the first time. My eyes instantly widened in alarm. Ella had been looking sickly the last time I had seen her, just before she had gone home for Christmas early, but now… the girl was chalk white, blood pouring from one ear, shaking like a leaf. She looked a second from collapsing. I strode over and helped Jack support her, guiding her quickly to the sofa that sat on one side of my office.

“Lie down,” I ordered her, panic making my voice harsher than I intended. With a flick of my wand, I sent off a message to Poppy, briefly warning her that Ella was coming. It was only when I remembered the younger sister, rooted to the spot in terror at the other side of my office, that I realised that someone would need to stay with her while another professor took Ella up to the Hospital Wing. I quickly flicked my wand to send a message to find whichever teacher was closest. For the moment, though, Ella was my main concern.

With help from myself and Jack, Ella managed to lie on the sofa. I felt her forehead with my hand. She was burning up. Even lying down, she looked shaky and woozy.

“What’s happened to her?” I asked Jack directly.

Jack closed his eyes, grabbing at his own hair anxiously. “I don’t know what the spell was,” he told me almost tearfully, still panicked. “I don’t know what she – it was my mum – she was going for Becky but Ella took it instead – I don’t know what the spell was supposed to do-”

I had never seen Jack like this before. Usually he was full of bravado, unable to show he cared about anything. But now, I could see that he was terrified of anything happening to his little sisters.

Ella groaned quietly beside us and Jack’s eyes immediately snapped towards her. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. I felt a little lost for words. Was Jack telling me that their mum had attacked Ella? Could their mum have really done so much damage with one spell?

“Does this happen a lot?” I asked, a suspicion forming.

Jack almost hung his head. “Yeah,” he admitted, sounding ashamed. “Especially this holiday. Mum’s been really angry because of Ella – cutting and that, and Ella always gets it twice anyway because she takes it for Becky…” He trailed off. “I don’t know what Mum’s done this time, though, I swear I don’t.”

I nodded in acceptance, but I was feeling a little sick at the sight of the girl so injured and Jack so worried. How had we not known this was going on?

Before I could speak again, there was a sharp knock on my office door. I wordlessly flicked my wand at the door to open it. As it swung open, Remus was standing there, looking concerned. “I got your message,” he said, frowning. “Is everything all right?”

I gestured to the couch with a nod of my head. Remus’ face paled a little. “What has she…?” he managed to say, his eyes flicking up to Jack and across the room to Becky.

“Their mother has cursed her,” I said, forcing myself to keep my voice steady, deciding that it was probably best to keep things brief. Apart from anything else, that was pretty much all the information that I actually had.

Remus took a sharp breath in. “We need to get her to Poppy.”

I nodded once in agreement. I glanced between Jack and Ella, and Becky on the other side of the room. Quickly I decided – Remus knew Ella well and got on with her. He should be the one to take her and Jack to the Hospital Wing. Besides, as deputy headmistress, I couldn’t leave the grounds if Ella needed to be transferred to St Mungo’s. And by the look of her, that was likely.

“Professor Lupin, take Ella up to the Hospital Wing,” I said clearly, sharply even. I looked over to Jack and spoke a little more softly to him. “Jack, go with Professor Lupin, please. Whatever information you can give about what’s happened here will help enormously.”

Jack nodded quickly, squeezing his sister’s hand before jumping to his feet. “What about Becky?” he asked quickly. “I know she’s not meant to be here but I couldn’t leave her there with them…”

I gave Jack a small, sad smile. “I know, Jack,” I said, more softly again. I wasn’t going to punish the boy for trying to protect his sisters. I looked back over to the younger child and tried to look a little less intimidating. “Becky can stay here with me,” I assured him.

Jack hesitated for a minute but then nodded. “Thank you,” he said, sounding genuinely sincere.

I merely nodded in reply. The most important thing at that moment was getting Ella to medical attention. I quickly conjured a floating stretcher and levitated Ella onto it. Her head rolled limply to one side; she was almost totally unconscious now.

“Let’s go,” said Remus hastily beside me, waving his own wand so that the stretcher moved over to him and bobbed at his side. I felt an odd rush of pride, that one of my cubs could be so effective in a crisis.

On the other side of the room, Jack nodded quickly, giving Becky a quick hug and a kiss before striding over to Ella and Remus. Remus clapped Jack on the shoulder gently, and they quickly left my office with Ella.

For a minute, my office felt suddenly eerily quiet. I closed my eyes for a short second, before collecting myself with a deep breath. I turned around to see Becky stood rooted to the same spot, looking up at me with big, scared eyes.

“Hello, Becky,” I said, trying to sound warm, and gentler than I would be with my older students. “My name is Professor McGonagall. I’m a teacher here.”

Becky looked down at her feet and didn’t say anything. She instantly reminded me of a younger Ella. Ignoring the slight pang that this gave me in my chest, I gestured to the sofa where Ella had been lying. “Would you like to sit down?”

Hesitantly, the child moved over and sat down on the edge of the sofa without looking up at me. She was clearly terrified, physically shaking. What was I going to do with her? I looked over to my desk, wondering how to put the child at her ease. My eyes landed on the tin of biscuits from Filius, and I felt a flash of inspiration. “Do you drink hot chocolate, Becky?”

An hour later, Becky had drunk a large mug of hot chocolate, eaten three biscuits and was now sitting more comfortably on my sofa. She had cried rather a lot at first, but my assurance that Ella would be fine seemed to have calmed her down considerably.

“It’s my fault,” she had initially told me, highly worried. “The spell was meant for me, I should have taken it!”

At this point I was sat on the sofa next to her. I shook my head. “No adult should be firing curses at children,” I told her firmly. “Regardless of how they’ve been provoked.”

She looked down into her mug. “Is my Mum going to go to prison?” she asked tentatively, looking afraid of the answer.

I sighed. “Possibly, I’m afraid.” It didn’t seem right to lie to Becky just to mollify her. This was the truth; I had no idea what Magical Law Enforcement would do to Mrs Nunes when they found out the circumstances.

In fact, however, the idea that the three of them might be protected actually seemed to calm Becky down more. “Ella hasn’t told anyone because she knows I don’t want to go to foster care,” she told me, with an honest innocence that reminded me just how young she was. “But I don’t want her to get hurt anymore. Or Jack.” She hesitated. “Or me, when they’re not there.”

It was painfully sad to hear these things from Becky but at long last I felt like I was starting to understand why Ella had been behaving so erratically. Remus had updated me about how he’d found her in the bathroom before Christmas, but I hadn’t been able to help him unravel why Ella had hurt herself so badly. And, though I had been much less worried about this, it also started to explain why Jack had been getting more and more – for want of a word – _aggressive_ in his pranks this school year. More than anything, however, I felt terrible that these three children had been forced to keep such a big secret.

I took some solace in the fact that I could contribute that night by keeping Becky comfortable and calm while Ella was being helped by the Healers. I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep her occupied the next day, if Ella was still away. Though I was going to contact the child welfare department at the Ministry about all three children as soon as possible, I knew it would take a day or two to sort out accommodation for any of the children, especially if they were safe at Hogwarts. Moreover, I imagined they would want to interview the children before they decided what to do.

But for now, anyway, it was getting late. I had sent a house elf to fetch some spare hospital pyjamas (the smallest size) for Becky to sleep in, and some blankets and sheets to set her up a little bed on the larger sofa in my private quarters. I had also found a spare toothbrush from the small store of such things that I kept in my office.

I pointed at the clock with a small smile. “Bedtime, I think,” I said with a small smile.

Becky nodded, though there was something in her expression that I couldn’t quite read. I waited for her to speak but she stayed silent. With a small frown, I handed her the pyjamas and toothbrush as I gestured to the bathroom. “You can get changed in there. Then we can get you settled for the night.”

Becky nodded again and took the things from me. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and again I was reminded of Ella – politely covering up that something was wrong.

While Becky was in the bathroom, I gathered up my marking and moved it to the small desk in my private quarters so Becky wouldn’t be left alone. I hoped the small lamp on the desk wouldn’t disturb her. Next I spread some sheets over the sofa cushions, as well as a pillow and a warm blanket. She would be comfortable there, I was sure. I briefly considered lending her my only teddy bear, but I felt a little embarrassed to admit that I had kept hold of him. This girl would be coming to Hogwarts herself in two years, I had to remind myself.

Becky emerged from the bathroom looking very young in the slightly too large pyjamas. She hesitantly laid her own clothes on the arm of the sofa. I noticed she was watching me as if almost a little afraid.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I asked, finding it easier to be gentle with this younger girl than it was sometimes with my students.

She hesitated again, her eyes fixed on one point. I looked behind her; she was focused on the fireplace on the wall in my living quarters. “My stepdad – he can’t Floo in here, can he?”

I frowned, finding the question a little odd. In truth, I was more expecting her to be worried about her mum coming into the room. Still, I shook my head. “That grate isn’t connected to the Floo network,” I answered her honestly. “You have nothing to worry about there.” The issue with her stepdad was something to be unravelled on another day, I knew; but in truth, I was finding it hard to shake it out of my head.

In any case, Becky was visibly relieved at my answer. With a little bit more confidence, she climbed into her bed for the night. After such a long day, I knew the poor child must be exhausted. “Good night,” she said quietly when she was laid down.

I gave her a small smile. “Good night, Becky.” She was a sweet child. I felt fairly confident that Becky would follow Ella into Hufflepuff when she joined the school, rather than going into Gryffindor with her brother.

Before long, Becky was laid still and seemed to be asleep fairly peacefully. It was still early for me, and it was easy to get going with my marking again. I had always had a good ability for putting things out of my head to get on with what needed to be done, and I certainly called on that skill that night. Some thoughts were more difficult to get rid of than others, sadly.

_Why her stepdad, not her mother?_

I was once again trying to put that thought out of my mind when I noticed Becky starting to toss and turn on the sofa. I put my quill down, and quickly hurried out from behind my desk. As I did so, Becky thrashed particularly violently and suddenly sat bolt upright. I thought for a moment that she was going to be sick and I was about to conjure a bucket when she took a few deep breaths, settling herself. It seemed to take her a few moments to work out where she was.

I crouched down next to her, feeling a little awkward but mostly wanting to make sure she was alright. “What’s happened?” I asked quietly.

Catching sight of me seemed to soothe her for a brief moment; but then she seemed to realise something and, to my confusion, she turned bright red, looking down at her lap as tears started to fall. Unlike in my dealings with Ella, Becky didn’t try and force the tears back, and she started to sob, looking frankly ashamed.

“Becky?” I asked, slightly bewildered. “What’s the matter?”

She brushed off the tears on her face with her sleeve but more kept coming. “I’m so sorry,” she wailed at me. “I had a nightmare - I didn’t mean to, I promise!”

I frowned, even more confused. “Didn’t mean to…?” I prompted, concerned.

Becky closed her eyes as if she was forcing herself to speak. Finally she leaned over to me and whispered the fact in my ear.

Now things made sense. I shook my head slightly, reaching over to lay a hand on her shoulder. But as Becky saw my hand coming towards her, she immediately flinched away backwards. She looked afraid, screwing up her face and bracing herself as if expecting a blow.

I moved my hand back, holding it up to show I wasn’t going to hurt her. “It’s quite all right, Becky,” I said very gently. “We don’t punish children for that at Hogwarts.” I frowned, choosing my next words carefully. “Does your mother get – very angry, if this happens, at home?”

Becky swallowed, finally looking up at me, and nodded. “Yeah,” she admitted sadly, before adding, “only if Ella isn’t there. Ella’s really good at cleaning it with magic, she does it to her own sheets too-”

My face must have betrayed my surprise at this revelation because Becky suddenly stopped, unsure. “Should I not have told you that? Is Ella going to get in trouble?”

I shook my head emphatically. “Not at all.” And I meant it. I was genuinely surprised that Ella was having this same problem, but mostly I was frankly quite concerned. I felt certain that none of her other professors were aware of it (especially Pomona) and I made a mental note to mention it when I spoke to the Ministry. In conjunction with the odd comment about their stepfather, it was possible to say that, I was, in fact, more than concerned.

In truth, my heart was rather aching for the three children. It seemed like they had all been keeping big secrets for a very long time. I couldn’t bear the thought of Ella cleaning Becky up in the middle of the night to stop her getting hurt by their mother; but somehow the thought of Ella having to do the same for herself all alone at Hogwarts, too scared or embarrassed to tell anyone… somehow that was worse.

I quickly retrieved my wand from my desk, and with a few household spells, I cleaned and dried Becky and the bed. “All sorted,” I said quietly, and Becky was visibly relieved. She gave me a small smile, before, to my slight alarm, throwing her arms around my neck and giving me a hug.

I blinked, but tentatively put a hand on Becky’s back. “You’re alright, dear,” I said, a little stiffly but determined to settle the child. I rubbed her back slightly as she clung to me. I could only hope that things were going as well at St Mungo’s with the other Nunes children.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Remus wait in St Mungo's.

** Remus **

My heart was pounding as Jack and I hurried to the Hospital Wing with Ella hovering between us. I knew something was wrong. I knew there was a reason that Ella was hurting herself. And then to have to tend to her like this? We hadn’t done enough and I felt personally ashamed.

I tried to keep a calm expression on my face for Jack’s sake but I knew that Madam Pomfrey was going to take one look at Ella and send her straight to St Mungo’s. Especially since we didn’t even know which curse Ella’s mother had used. All I could think was a hope that Ella would pull through.

Jack was rubbing his arms agitatedly as we walked. “It’s my fault,” he stated, as much to himself as to me. “I’m the oldest. I should have been protecting her.”

I shook my head. “No, no,” I said quietly, half-distracted. “Your mum shouldn’t have done this.” I sighed. “And I’m guessing it’s not the first time.”

Jack hung his head. “No, it’s not,” he admitted hoarsely, but I was barely listening.

Even as I tried to concentrate on Ella and Jack, I felt a memory of my own time at Hogwarts niggling at me. Of patching up Sirius when he came back from school holidays – but no, I couldn’t think about that right now. Sirius needed to stay in his little box. I couldn’t trust those memories. I didn’t know him and those memories were different now.

I was out of breath when we finally reached the Hospital Wing. I left Ella and Jack at the entrance as I strode straight through to Madam Pomfrey’s office and stuck my head around the door. “Poppy,” I said, surprisingly myself with how sharply the word pushed itself out of my mouth. “It’s an emergency. Quickly.”

Madam Pomfrey looked up at me. I could see why she would be surprised; after all, there were barely any students left at the school, and no classes running. How could an emergency happen?

But as soon as she caught sight of Ella’s limp body on the stretcher, with Jack determinedly holding his sister’s hand, she jumped out of her chair and quickly levitated the stretcher over to a bed. Jack and I followed wordlessly.

Poppy was already waving her wand over Ella’s body when Jack and I reached her bay, performing what I assumed were diagnostic spells. “Her ribs are shattered,” she muttered in concern, after a minute. “And one of her arms looks like it’s been broken and not healed properly.”

I closed my eyes for a second but Jack, though still looking panicked, looked unsurprised about this. “I remember that,” he noted darkly. “It was just before Ella started Hogwarts. I tried to get her to show you it later but she didn’t want all the questions…”

Unsure exactly what to say to that, I reached out and touched Jack’s shoulder gently. There was silence for a moment as Madam Pomfrey continued to wave her wand over Ella. Finally, Madam Pomfrey looked up at Jack.

“You really don’t know what your mother was trying to do when she cursed Ella?” she asked, slightly frustrated, and, if I wasn’t mistaken – slightly afraid.

“Do you not think I would tell you?” he snapped back at her. He shook his head furiously. “She can’t die. You can’t let her die.”

Madam Pomfrey frowned but largely looked unphased by Jack’s anger. “I’m not going to let her die,” she said firmly. “But I think – I think she needs to go to St Mungo’s. Whatever magic your mother used – well, it was something dark, is all I’m sure about. And I’m not blaming you, Jack,” she added, sternly but reassuringly. “No child could have blocked a spell like this.”

Jack sighed but didn’t say anything. I turned to Madam Pomfrey. “I think Professor McGonagall intends me to accompany Ella to St Mungo’s,” I told her quickly. “I’m happy to do it.”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. Someone needs to go with her, and I can’t leave the infirmary unmanned.” She looked back over to Ella. “But it needs to happen now. Are you ready, Remus?”

Terrified though I was, I was about to nod but Jack burst in. “Can I come? She’s my sister,” he said fiercely. “I need to know she’s OK. Please.”

Madam Pomfrey and I shared a quick glance and she hesitated. “It’s up to you, Remus,” she said eventually.

I looked back over to Jack who was looking up at me with a pleading expression. I sighed. “Yes. Alright. Just until she’s out of the woods.”

Jack looked immensely relieved. “Thank you,” he said quickly.

Madam Pomfrey nodded curtly. “Right then,” she said briskly. “We’ve got a direct Floo link to St Mungo’s. I will write them a note about what I’ve seen with Ella but you’ll have to do the bulk of the explaining, Remus. Is that alright?”

It didn’t seem to matter much if it was or not; without waiting for a response, Madam Pomfrey bustled around the bed, starting to wheel the bed with Ella on over to the specially adapted fireplace. She threw a handful of Floo powder into the grate before turning to the two of us. “She’ll be fine,” she said firmly. “On you go, now.”

Just in time, Jack and I stepped into the fireplace with Ella on the bed. I felt the familiar feeling of travelling by Floo powder for less than ten seconds before being thrown out into a busy ward with Healers quickly making their way from patient to patient.

A nurse hurried up to us. “Name?” she asked briskly.

I tried to collect my thoughts. “This is Ella Nunes,” I said quickly, trying to look professional.

“Ah, you’re from Hogwarts,” said the nurse with a quick look at the clipboard she was carrying. “I can get Miss Nunes booked in now. What’s her date of birth?”

I floundered for a second – I had no idea. I quickly glanced over to Jack, who was staring around the room, looking as overwhelmed as I felt. He shook his head slightly, before looking back over to us. “3rd of April,” he answered hoarsely. “1980. She’s 13…”

Jack trailed off, dropping his gaze to look at his feet. I reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder. I could only imagine how hard this must be for him.

The nurse with the clipboard made a note and nodded as a porter came over and started wheeling Ella’s bed next to an empty bed in a bay. “I’ll get a Healer to come over and have a look as soon as they can,” she assured us. “You can wait outside.”

“I want to stay with her,” said Jack stubbornly before I could reply. “She’ll be freaked out if she wakes up all alone.”

The nurse sighed, with an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” she said simply. “No visitors just yet.”

“She’s my sister!” Jack burst out angrily.

As I saw the nurse raise an eyebrow and open her mouth to respond, I quickly gave Jack’s shoulder a squeeze. “They’ll take good care of her, Jack,” I said, trying to be calming. “Come on. We’ll take a seat outside.”

For a second he looked mutinous, but then seemed to deflate and he nodded silently. Though I was glad not to have to manage Jack kicking off whilst Ella was still so ill, it was sad to see him like this. I had definitely wondered – in the few months I had known him, Jack had acted out in a way not unfamiliar to anyone who had grown up with Sirius -

I quickly stopped that train of thought. Yes, Sirius had grown up in an abusive household, but Jack was nothing like Sirius. Certainly, Jack played cruel jokes and at times had to be reigned in from time to time from being a borderline bully, but I now realised how deeply Jack cared about his two sisters. He was nothing like Sirius.

But now wasn’t the time to be getting into a train of thought about Sirius. A few metres ahead of me, Jack was walking dejectedly out of the hospital ward, in the direction of some chairs in the corridor. I let him have the head start, but when he lowered himself into a chair, I sat down too.

His head was in his hands now. “This is all my fucking fault,” he muttered. “I’m the oldest. I should be the one taking spells for her. But she’s the one who keeps getting hurt.”

I sighed deeply. In truth, the idea that Ella was getting harmed at home had been one of my top theories as to why she was hurting herself as she was. Now I could prove it – but I wasn’t sure that actually made this situation any better.

“It’s your mum’s fault,” I said tiredly. “She shouldn’t be doing this.”

“I know she wanted to tell someone,” he said desperately, as if I hadn’t spoken. “But we agreed, until Becky starts Hogwarts – so we wouldn’t get separated… so she wouldn’t have to go to a random foster home…”

This was such a complicated situation. I had no idea what to say to Jack to make this better.

“How long has this been going on?” I asked instead.

Jack took a deep breath in, rubbing his eyes as his head stayed resting on his hands. Finally he answered me. “It’s never been great,” he said, a bit more hesitantly. “But it’s been really bad since she met the prick. Our stepdad. He stresses her out and then she takes it out on us. And he gets off on it, he definitely does – and he’s helpfully added some Muggle methods in-”

Jack broke off, squeezing his hands into his skull in frustration. I frowned. “What do you mean by Muggle methods?” I asked, slightly tentatively as I worried what Jack was going to tell me.

He sighed. “He’s just – cruel mostly - like the hot sauce thing…”

This was getting worse and worse. “The hot sauce thing?”

Jack stayed silent for a minute before he spoke again. When he did, his tone was heavy. He sounded as exhausted as I felt. “If Ella says something he doesn’t like, he makes her drink a shot glass of hot sauce. You know, the one you’re only meant to add a few drops of. Then he makes her puke it up.” He mimed sticking his fingers down his throat. “It’s messed up her stomach. If she thinks someone is going to hurt her, she pukes. She didn’t revise enough for a test in Transfiguration once and threw up all over her desk.”

I closed my eyes in horror, before something occurred to me. In my office, when she told me about the self harm, she had been sick – had she thought I was going to hurt her? Or get angry at her?

But I had to put that thought out of my mind for the moment. “Jack, I…” I struggled to put into words what I wanted to say. “I’m so sorry, Jack. That this has happened to you all.”

He shook his head. “It should have just been me. I should have protected my sisters.”

“You’re a minor yourself, Jack,” I reminded him. “These things… these things your mum and stepdad have been doing… they shouldn’t be doing them. To anyone.”

He took a deep breath in. “Is Ella going to die?”

I shook my head firmly, not giving Jack any time to think that I might be doubting if she would. I knew all too well that it only took one nasty spell to knock out some people – especially if they had been weakened by spells in the past –

But I shook my head. “No. She’s going to be fine, I’m certain of it.”

Jack sighed, his head still in his hands – and his shoulders started to shake. Unable to think of anything to say, anything which would calm the young boy down or make any of this any better, I reached out and laid a hand on his back. As I had done with Ella.

I was forcing myself to hold back my real feelings myself; I was the adult in this situation. I was supposed to be in charge, keeping all the pieces of this situation together. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I had handled things better, we might not be in this situation at all. If I had listened to her properly – if I had protested against her being sent home – if I had gone and found her before she hurt herself…

I sighed deeply. This wasn’t going to be an easy day by any means.

The next hour or two passed mostly in silence. It was getting late but I had no urge to sleep and Jack didn’t seem to be sleepy either. “Have you eaten?” I asked him at one point, but he flicked his head as if the thought was annoying.

“I’m not hungry,” he said stubbornly.

I knew I had no chance of persuading him to eat whether he was hungry or genuinely not, so I stayed quiet. While in the time I had spent with Ella, I had felt like my presence was comforting, that it felt safer for her for there to just be someone there, with Jack I felt the opposite; that my presence was more stifling, as if he wanted to be the strong one himself with no one protecting him.

Finally he stood up, almost bouncing with frustrated, pent up emotion. “I need the toilet,” he muttered at me restlessly.

I frowned, a little worried. “All right,” I said slowly. “Don’t go too far-”

Jack made a noise of irritation. “I’m not Ella,” he said shortly. “I’m not going to slice myself up.”

Without waiting for a response, he strode off down the corridor. This had been my concern about Jack being here – he was volatile at the best of times and I felt like couldn’t manage Ella and Jack at the same time on my own. I could imagine that Professor McGonagall wouldn’t be best pleased if I came back to the castle having lost Jack somewhere in the depths of St Mungo’s.

To my relief, Jack returned a few minutes later. The walk seemed to have calmed him down slightly.

“Sorry,” he said, still not exactly respectfully, but more steadily. “I won’t wander off.”

I nodded to acknowledge his apology, giving him a rueful smile. “I don’t think you’re going to slice yourself up,” I said, keeping my voice level and even. “I know that you and Ella are different people and that you process things differently. But I think we need to put that to one side for a while because we have to focus on getting Ella better right now. Is that all right?”

I half expected Jack to get defensive but he hung his head. “Yeah,” he answered, more docilely, sounding a little ashamed. “Yeah, you’re right. I need to chill it.”

“Thank you,” I said, more warmly, and the next hour, though silent, passed a little more companionably.

At long last, a Healer poked his head out of the door. “Are you here with Ella Nunes?”

Jack immediately jumped to his feet. “Is she OK?” he demanded quickly.

The Healer flicked his gaze from Jack to meet my eyes instead. “Are you her father?” he asked a little uncertainly.

I shook my head. “No, no, I’m her teacher. And Jack’s,” I added, looking over to him. “He’s her brother.”

The Healer looked a little more understanding. “I see,” he said politely. “Well, I’m Healer Carmichael, I’ve been looking after Ella this evening. She’s sustained some really quite worrying injuries – and we seem to have uncovered some old injuries that haven’t healed properly.”

“Her broken arm,” supplied Jack quickly.

“Yes,” said the Healer slowly. “But a few more as well. It’s a little concerning. Especially since – well, there seems to be some really quite dark magic used.”

I grimaced. A large part of me really didn’t want to know the details of what had happened to Ella. I wasn’t sure I could take it.

But what was worse was that, though Jack looked away a little awkwardly, he didn’t seem surprised by that at all. “Yeah, that’s my mum,” he said heavily. “She’s got all these books…”

The Healer looked highly concerned and he looked back over to me. “Has the school contacted the Ministry about this?”

I hesitated. “Well… we’ve known for a few weeks that Ella’s been self harming… but we only found out about these troubles at home since this evening. Our deputy headmistress is aware now, though. She will be making a referral.”

Healer Carmichael sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Right,” he said. “Well, I’ll make a note with the nurses not to let Ella’s mother in as a visitor.”

I could feel Jack bristling beside me with impatience. I was about to shoot him a warning look when he burst out, “ _is she all right or not_?”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, a little embarrassed that I blatantly couldn’t control Jack, but if I was honest with myself, it was the question that I wanted answered as well.

The Healer hesitated. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, essentially she’s all right. But she’s in a lot of pain. And she’s had a lot of procedures this evening, so I imagine she will be feeling really quite drowsy and tired.” He paused, looking from me to Jack. “But if you want to go in and see her, you can.”

Jack nodded fervently. “Yes,” he said immediately. “Yes, I want to see her.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hufflepuff Prefect Flick Goodman looks after Becky whilst Minerva speaks to the Ministry.

** Flick Goodman **

I was heading down to breakfast as usual with the few of my housemates who hadn’t gone home for Christmas when I heard a voice behind me call out, “Miss Goodman!”

I turned round almost automatically and saw Professor McGonagall looking at me. I frowned but before I could say anything, I saw her beckoning me over. “This can’t be good,” I muttered to Harriet beside me. She smirked, giving me a light touch on my arm as a goodbye, and with trepidation I headed over to McGonagall.

“Good morning, Professor,” I said brightly. To my relief, up close McGonagall looked much less stern than she would do if I had done something wrong.

She nodded once in acknowledgement. “My office, please,” she said directly, though she gave me a small smile.

McGonagall didn’t wait for a response from me, instead turning on her heel and striding purposefully down the corridor towards her office. A little alarmed, I quickly set off after her, more confused than worried now. In my experience, McGonagall would have made her anger apparent by this stage if she was going to give me a bollocking.

We quickly arrived at McGonagall’s office and she held the door open for me to enter. I automatically went to sit in the chair across from her desk when I noticed someone sat on the sofa on the other side of the office. It was a small girl who I didn’t recognise. That was odd – most people at Hogwarts I knew by sight at least – but more than that, she did look very young. Was she old enough to be at Hogwarts?

I turned round to frown at McGonagall, confused. She gave me a small smile. “Miss Goodman – Felicity – take a seat on the sofa, please.”

I shook my head slightly in confusion but did as McGonagall asked, sitting down next to the young girl. The poor thing looked terrified. 

“Hiya,” I said to her softly. “I’m Flick.”

She looked down at her feet. “I’m Becky,” she said in a little voice.

“Nice to meet you, Becky,” I said warmly, as McGonagall moved her chair from behind her desk to sit across from the two of us.

“I’m glad to see you’re getting acquainted,” she said in her normal dignified way before fixing her gaze on me. “Felicity, Becky is Jack and Ella Nunes’ little sister. She will be staying with us for a few days.”

I frowned slightly. “OK,” I said slowly. That was weird. “Is everything all right?”

McGonagall frowned a little. “Well – I can’t discuss other students with you,” she said, as though she was choosing her words very carefully. Whether that was for Becky’s benefit or mine, I wasn’t sure. “In any case,” she continued. “Suffice it to say that Ella and Jack aren’t at the castle today. I’ve been looking after Becky, but I have a great deal to do today. I would like you to keep her occupied until later. Then I will collect her from you.”

I blinked in surprise. I was kind of wrongfooted by this whole thing. But I nodded quickly. “Er, yeah, sure,” I answered McGonagall. “I’ll look after her.” I looked back to Becky. “How – um, how old are you, Becky?”

Becky, who had been gazing at me worriedly, now looked down at her feet. “Nine,” she said, still very quiet.

Wow, that was small. I wasn’t 100% sure how I was going to keep her busy but I knew we would find something. She seemed a quiet one like Ella – maybe one of the first years might have a book we could nick for her.

I was deep in thought about this when, to my surprise, Becky spoke again. “Do you know Ella?” she asked, eyeing my Hufflepuff scarf.

I nodded brightly. “She’s a bit younger than me, but we see each other in the common room a lot,” I answered, slightly distracted as I realised we were going to have to cut down the swearing in the common room whilst there was a nine year old present.

McGonagall cleared her throat. “Perhaps breakfast, Felicity?” she reminded me pointedly, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh yeah,” I said quickly. “Come on, Becky. Breakfast at Hogwarts is great, you’ll love it.”

Becky looked a little bit alarmed but quickly stood up with me. “Any problems, come and see me or Professor Sprout,” said McGonagall briskly to me as she opened the door for us to leave.

I was still a little wrongfooted about this whole thing but I supposed it couldn’t be too hard to keep a nine year old happy for a day. “All right, Professor,” I replied, cheerily enough.

I smiled down at Becky as we left the office and started to make our way down the corridor.

She looked back at me with curiosity. “Why does Professor McGonagall call you Felicity instead of Flick?”

I suppressed a laugh. “She’s just a very formal person, I think,” I told Becky, trying to hide my amusement. “Usually she calls us by our surnames which is worse. But we call her Minnie when she’s annoying. Not to her face,” I added hastily, remembering that I had to deliver Becky back to her later. “Never to her face. But she knows that’s what we call her.”

By this point we had reached the Great Hall, and I led Becky inside. I took her along to where the few Hufflepuffs who had stayed at school were sitting, but immediately I noticed we were getting frowns and stares – presumably from people who were wondering where I’d got a random kid from. I sat down at the Hufflepuff table, and Becky quietly sat down next to me, looking a bit freaked out.

From the little McGonagall had told me, I could kind of guess that something was wrong with Ella and Jack – especially since I knew for a fact that Ella had gone home for Christmas. Why would her little sister suddenly appear here? But whatever the situation, she was a young kid away from home, probably for the first time. So I knew I had to keep things calm and light for her, as much as I could.

“This is Becky,” I said matter-of-factly, gesturing to Becky. “She’s Ella’s little sister. McGonagall wants us to look after her for today.”

“ _Our_ Ella?” asked Susan a few places down, looking confused. “She’s at home. Why…?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Ella will tell us if she wants us to know, I guess.” I shot a look down the table at Rob, who had opened his mouth. “Becky doesn’t need to answer any questions,” I added pointedly.

He closed his mouth but didn’t look satisfied. There was a short silence.

On my other side, Leanne gave Becky a little smile. “Do you want some toast, Becky? I know Ella likes marmalade. Shall I get you some?”

Becky looked up at Leanne with big eyes but nodded. “Yes please,” she added very quietly.

Leanne grabbed some toast from the rack and put it on Becky’s plate, then grabbed her the jar of marmalade. “There we go,” she said kindly. “Flick, what have you got planned today?”

Beside me, Becky looked pleased to have something to do with her hands and quietly set to spreading a little marmalade on the bread. The reasons for Leanne quickly changing the subject and getting eyes off of Becky wasn’t lost on me, and I answered her brightly.

“I’ve only got one last essay to get going on,” I said cheerfully. “But it’s that nasty one from Snape. I don’t even understand the title, let alone the whole essay. So that might take a bit of time.” I rolled my eyes. “Not sure I feel too much like delving into it just yet though. What about you?”

Leanne smiled and lowered her voice. “We’re going to clean out Stuart this morning,” she whispered conspiratorially. How no professor had worked out that Leanne and Susan had a secret guinea pig was beyond me, the way the two of them talked about him. I felt pretty sure that everyone in Hufflepuff knew about him, including where he was hidden in the grounds and the fact that we were getting vegetables for him from the house elves.

But this was perfect, actually. I turned to Becky. “Do you want to meet our guinea pig?” I asked her with a grin, keeping my voice quiet like Leanne.

Immediately Becky looked up with interest, and for the first time I saw a little smile on her face. To be honest, I felt slightly relieved.

“Yeah!” she answered me quickly. She frowned slightly before dropping her own voice. “Is he a secret?”

“Susan stole him,” said Leanne honestly, laughing as Susan shot her a look, half-wounded and half-amused. “Sorry, sorry, you _borrowed_ him from McGonagall.”

“She was going to teach people to turn him into a guinea fowl!” protested Susan, but she was laughing too. “He’s better off living in the grounds. He’s a happy boy now!”

I couldn’t help but grin too. “So, yeah, don’t tell McGonagall. But we can go and see him after breakfast if you want.”

Becky looked more relaxed now and nodded, finally picking up the toast and starting to eat it. This was a start anyway.

As everyone around us started to finish their breakfast, I turned to Becky. To my relief, she had eaten the two pieces of toast Leanne had put on her plate. I shot her a smile, and stood up from the table. “Ready?”

She nodded again, following me up from the table. A few paces ahead of us, I saw Susan and Leanne in a whispered discussion, shooting furtive looks back to me and Becky. As we came level with them, they both stopped talking. Leanne gave me a meaningful look before gently putting her arm around Becky. “I’ll show you where he is,” she said kindly. “Come on. Flick and Susan are coming too.”

I frowned but Becky seemed comfortable with Leanne. Susan turned to me as soon as Leanne and Becky were a few metres ahead of us. “What’s going on?” she asked me seriously. “Why is Ella’s sister here?”

I sighed. “I honestly don’t know,” I told her, as we set off in the same direction as Becky and Leanne but out of their immediate earshot. “McGonagall said she couldn’t discuss other kids with me.”

Susan looked worried. “But you know – you know Ella went home early?”

“Yeah…” I said slowly. “Leanne said – she was poorly. That’s all I know.”

Susan shot a look at Leanne and Becky before she continued. “Look, this is between us. Isn’t it?” she asked a little uncertainly.

“I guess,” I answered, kind of confused.

Susan folded her arms. “It’s…” She trailed off before trying again. “She _is_ poorly, yeah… She’s really depressed. She’s cutting. She hurt herself really bad and Professor Lupin found her… so Sprout and Pomfrey said she had to go home early.”

This news hit me like a brick. I had genuinely had no idea. “Oh shit,” I breathed. “Poor Ella…”

“It gets worse,” said Susan grimly. “She was really scared about going home.”

“Because her parents would find out about the cutting?” I asked slowly.

Susan hesitated then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she said they were going to be really mad. But I think… I think there’s worse things going on.”

I closed my eyes. “What are you telling me, Susan?” I said finally.

There was a short silence as we passed some surly looking Slytherins. As we stepped out into the grounds, Susan started talking at last. “The stepdad,” she said, kind of uncertainly. “I’ve met him. He’s a creepy guy. Ella… I mean, she didn’t say it outright, but… I think he was creepy with her. I’m worried she’s hurt herself because of it.”

For a moment I couldn’t speak. Ahead of us, Leanne and Becky were chatting, though Leanne was doing most of the talking. This day wasn’t going the way I had thought it would. Finally I responded. “You know – you know I have to tell McGonagall? You know that?”

Susan sighed. “Yeah,” she answered, more firmly than I had expected. Clearly this was something that had been worrying her.

Between the small group of Hufflepuffs that were still at the castle, we managed to keep Becky entertained for most of the day. She had loved Stuart and that had taken up a good chunk of time. Then I had found a first year to lend her a book whilst I made a start on the essay from Snape. Not that I had been able to concentrate very well. My mind was full of Ella and Becky, and wondering how I was going to tell McGonagall about this.

Finally, after tea, we were playing Exploding Snap when the barrel door to the common room opened and McGonagall climbed through. She approached the group of us with a small smile.

“Hi Professor,” said Leanne brightly.

I had been obsessing all day over how I was going to delicately take McGonagall aside without worrying little Becky – but now the moment was here and I panicked. “Professor I’m really sorry I need to talk to you about something it’s important would that be OK?” I blurted out in one breath.

She frowned at me, taking a second to understand what I was asking of her. “Of course, Miss Goodman,” she said, clearly a little taken aback. “Miss Stubbs, can I leave Becky with you?”

Leanne nodded quickly. I was fairly sure that Susan had filled her in about what we had talked about. This clearly didn’t surprise her. “Sure,” she answered, giving Becky’s shoulder a little squeeze. I was trying not to look at Becky – I didn’t want her to find out how worried I was in case it made things even worse for her.

I quickly stood up and followed McGonagall out of the common room into the corridor. She turned to me. “Do we need to go to my office?” she asked, giving me a look.

I understood that really she was trying to ascertain how serious what I wanted to talk to her about was. I took a deep breath and met her gaze. “Yeah,” I told her sadly. “I think we do.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Jack sit with Ella at St Mungo's.

** Remus  **

The Healer led us down a rabbit warren of corridors until he finally stopped outside a ward. Through the window in the door, I could see a few beds with curtains that could be pulled around each bay. It didn’t look unlike the Hospital Wing but the patients were all still, hooked up to wires and tubes.

Jack immediately went to open the door of the ward but the Healer put his hand on Jack’s chest to halt him. “She’s still very unwell,” he warned him. “Don’t upset or excite her. Just – be careful, please.”

I didn’t want to keep Jack from his sister but I thought I should ask some blunt questions. “What did you find wrong with her?” I asked uneasily.

He sighed. “Multiple broken bones. Most of them totally shattered. Lots of old injuries. Bruises. Um – some scars that look like deliberate self injury?”

He raised his eyebrows at me as a question. With a quick glance at Jack, I nodded to confirm that we knew about those scars.

“Some organ failure,” he continued like a catalogue. “Her oesophagus was blistered. We couldn’t determine what the curse itself was but it’s really damaged her body. She’s going to have a long recovery. So you really do need to be careful.”

He gave Jack a pointed look, and for a minute Jack frowned; but then he was nodding, just eager to see his sister. The Healer gave us a small smile, stepping aside to let Jack enter the ward. As I went to follow him, the Healer caught me by the arm. “So you’re the chaperone?” he asked in a low voice.

I nodded. “I suppose so,” I answered warily, with a small frown.

“We need someone to stay with Miss Nunes,” he said, clearly impressing on me the importance of this. “Just… just in case.”

“Well, I can stay,” I told him, not wanting to think about what the ‘just in case’ was for. “If there’s somewhere I can sleep?”

The Healer nodded. “Of course. There’s a visitor bedroom just off the ward.” He looked round into the ward where Jack was rushing towards Ella’s bed. The Healer looked back at me and nodded, finally stepping aside to let me into the ward.

Jack had rushed ahead of me, spotting Ella immediately in the furthest bed over, by the window. I followed more slowly, and when I reached Ella, Jack had already knelt down by the bed, squeezing Ella’s hand hard.

Ella stirred feebly at the touch, but managed to open her eyes. “What…?” she managed to choke out, sounding confused or even a little frightened.

“It’s just me,” said Jack quickly. “It’s Jack. It’s not-”

He broke off suddenly, glancing back at me a little guiltily. I sensed there was something that the two teenagers were still holding back from me. But before I could ask, Ella spoke.

“Shit,” she swore quietly, managing with what looked like a huge effort to push herself up to sitting. Jack adjusted her pillows for her but Ella’s mind was elsewhere. “Where’s Becky?” she asked urgently. Her voice was hoarse and reedy. “Is she OK?”

Jack nodded quickly. “She’s totally fine,” Jack reassured her. “She’s back at school. McGonagall is looking after her.”

Ella looked relieved, but slightly confused. “I thought we were in the Hospital Wing… I remember landing in McGonagall’s office, but… Where are we?”

Jack swallowed. “St Mungo’s,” he admitted. “Looks like… she really did you in this time,” he finished a little lamely.

For a minute there was a silence as Ella looked down at her lap. I cleared my throat awkwardly and conjured a chair on either side of Ella’s bed. Jack looked back at me like he had just remembered I was there. “Thanks,” he said awkwardly, taking the chair on the far side.

“Sorry, hello, Professor,” Ella said with a weak smile.

I smiled back. “How are you feeling, Ella?” I asked gently as I sat in the other chair.

She bit her lip but nodded, looking like she wanted to seem cheerful. “Bit of pain,” she admitted. “But I’m OK. I’m alright.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head quickly, furiously. “I’m fine,” she insisted.

Jack rubbed his forehead, looking slightly agitated. “Ell, I have to tell you…” he said, quiet but definitely disturbed. “Look, they – they know. When we all landed in McGonagall’s office and you were so badly injured – I had to tell them.”

“How much?” asked Ella quietly.

“That it was Mum,” he admitted. “That she cursed you. That she does it a lot.”

Ella continued to look down at her lap. Her eyes closed for a minute. Then she looked over to Jack. “Do they know about-” she broke off, but kept Jack’s eye. Jack glanced over at me then back to Ella before silently shaking his head.

I would have to try and ask about that later, but for the moment, I put it out of my mind. “What about Becky?” Ella was saying. “We’re OK at Hogwarts, but Becky – where are they going to put her?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know,” he replied tiredly. “We – came straight here. There wasn’t much – time for talking.”

Ella swallowed hard and I saw tears start to form. She grimaced in pain as she bent her knees under the blankets to bring them up to her chest.

“Careful, Ella,” I interjected, keeping my voice soft but anxious that she would hurt herself by moving too much. “You’ve had a lot of procedures tonight.”

“I’m fine,” she replied, almost a little irritably. She took a deep breath, then shook her head slightly. “Sorry.”

I smiled at her. “Not to worry,” I replied mildly. “I know this isn’t easy.”

Ella smiled limply but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She stayed quiet. At somewhat of a loss, I looked over the bed to Jack. But he was staring at the floor and didn’t look up at me.

I decided that I had to speak. “I’ve never dealt with something like this before, as a teacher,” I admitted. “But when I was at school, I knew a few students who ended up in foster care during the holidays. There’s a department at the Ministry who deal with wizarding children. I’m sure they aim to keep kids together.”

Ella hid her face in her hands for a moment and her shoulders were shaking. Tears had clearly started to fall. “My mum said they would take us out of school,” she sobbed out suddenly. “She said everyone would know – would know what bad kids we were – and Becky would get stuck somewhere all on her own-”

Sobs overcame Ella then and Jack jumped up from his chair, sitting himself down next to Ella and putting his arm around her. His eyes were screwed up and I knew from his face that these were things he had heard said before.

“Your mother – she told you that would happen, if you talked about her cursing you?” I said, aghast. “No, no… oh, Ella.” I took a deep breath in. “None of that is going to happen. I can promise you. Becky will be apart from you during term time but I feel certain that you won’t get split up in the holidays. And in two years Becky will start at Hogwarts and it won’t even be an issue. Things are going to be OK, Ella.”

Jack kept his arm around his sister but looked up at me. “Are you sure?” he asked agitatedly.

I nodded firmly. “I am definitely sure.”

Ella brushed the tears from her face with the sleeve of her hospital gown. I picked up the box of tissues on the bedside table and offered them to her. She took one and blotted her eyes and nose. She looked at me for a minute, hesitating.

“No one thinks we’re lying, do they?” she asked uneasily.

I shook my head. “Ella, the curse your mum hit you with…” I trailed off. “No child could perform a curse like that. Your mum and stepdad were the only adults there. It must have been one of them.”

“Are they going to get arrested?” Ella asked.

“I would imagine so,” I answered, blunt but keeping my voice gentle.

On the bed, Ella found Jack’s hand and I saw her squeeze it tightly. The pair of them still looked agitated and exhausted; but maybe now they were a little relieved too.

“How long do I have to stay here?” said Ella tiredly.

I smiled apologetically. “A few days, I think,” I replied. “You’ve got some pretty bad injuries. Your bones, and your organs… The Healer said there had been a lot of damage.”

Ella nodded, but there was something uncertain about her face. “So I’ll have to sleep here?”

I frowned, slightly thrown by the question. “I think so, yes,” I answered, wondering why that was a problem.

Jack glanced over at Ella as she looked back down at the bed. He leaned over and whispered something in Ella’s ear, and Ella nodded, starting to blush. Clearly there was another issue in this family that we still didn’t know about either. I watched, a little confused, as Jack hesitantly looked back over to me.

“Professor, Ella’s allowed her wand here, right?” he asked, glancing back at Ella.

I looked at the pile of possessions that Ella had been carrying or wearing when she had come in, and on top of her clothes lay her wand. “I don’t see why not,” I answered honestly. “But, Ella… If you’re worried about anyone hurting you, no one can get in to this ward.” I hesitated. “And Jack will have to go back to the castle tomorrow but I will be here with you. I can promise that I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Ella looked a bit tearful again but quickly pushed the tears back. “OK,” she said, not looking very reassured, instead just looking a bit shifty.

“There’s a visitor room just off the ward where I’ll sleep but I won’t be far away,” I continued, trying to reassure her. “But yes. You can keep your wand.”

“Do I really have to go back to the castle tonight?” Jack interrupted, a little defiantly.

“Yes,” I said firmly. “We agreed that you could be here just until Ella was out of the woods. And-” I broke off, a little awkwardly, regretting starting that sentence.

“What?” asked Jack suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at me.

I had made my own bed here. I began to explain tiredly. “Well, I imagine that, until they’ve taken statements from all three of you, that Magical Law Enforcement will want to keep you separate,” I explained with a sigh. “Becky is staying with Professor McGonagall, so they will probably keep you somewhere else in the castle.” I shook my head slightly. “It’s nothing to worry about. It will just be for tomorrow.”

Jack and Ella exchanged a look but neither of them said anything. I glanced at my watch – it was nearly 2am now and I could see the nurse giving us a look for still being talking at this time. “I think we need to get you back there quite soon,” I added apologetically. “It’s very late. You need sleep as well.”

Jack looked slightly mutinous but Ella nodded, squeezing Jack’s hand. “Go and get some sleep,” she said gently. “I’ll be OK.”

Jack sighed but reluctantly climbed off of Ella’s bed and walked round to my side. To my surprise, he stuck out his hand to me and shook my hand solemnly. “Look after my sister,” he said seriously.

I nodded. “Of course.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minerva begins the difficult process of involving the Ministry in Jack, Ella and Becky's situation.

** Minerva **

As I delivered Felicity Goodman back to her common room, I was feeling as disturbed as I had probably ever felt in my time teaching. Yet I couldn’t say I was surprised. It wasn’t just the comments that Becky had made the night before; Ella had been a bit of a red flag even before we found out about her self harm. But what Felicity reported to me was never something that you wanted to hear that was going on for a pupil.

I collected Becky quickly, with a brief thanks to Felicity and the other Hufflepuffs. As far as I could tell, they had done a good job at keeping her feeling safe and occupied. This was somewhat of a relief, though I hadn’t really foreseen any problems. And in any case, I couldn’t have kept her in my office, as I had spent most of the day having Floo calls with people at the Ministry and Ella’s doctors. Jack had returned to the castle very late the previous night but had agreed to stay in Gryffindor tower in the interest of keeping the three children apart.

Becky stayed quiet as we walked back to my office. As we approached the door, I stopped and turned to the child. I felt a sudden rush of emotion as it hit me once again just how young Becky was – and how much she looked like Ella.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose before I spoke. “Becky – are you aware of the Ministry of Magic?”

She frowned a little, confused at the sudden question. “Yeah,” she answered softly.

“Excellent,” I said, trying to smile. “Well, there’s a witch here to ask you some questions, from the Ministry. She wants to ask you about what happened to Ella.”

I had scripted what I was going to say to Becky in the hope of distressing her as little as possible. But Becky’s frown turned to panic immediately. “Is Ella dead?” she cried out, looking terrified.

I shook my head quickly. “No, no,” I reassured her hurriedly. “Ella’s all right. She will be in hospital for a few days but she’s fine.” I cautiously reached out and rubbed Becky’s shoulder. “The witch from the Ministry – I believe her name is Helen - just wants to ask you what happened. As it’s made Ella – well, poorly. I imagine she wants to ask you about what things are normally like at home, too.”

Becky looked down at the floor. “I’m not allowed to talk about that,” Becky said in a tiny voice.

It was my turn to frown, but mine was in concern; if you had to tell a nine-year-old not to talk about what was going on at home, it had to be serious. “You are now,” I told her firmly. “We are going to keep you safe, now, as well as Ella and Jack. All I ask is that you’re fully honest with Helen. To let her help you and your siblings as well as she can.”

Becky only had to consider for a moment. “OK,” she said. “I will.”

“Thank you,” I replied as gently as I could. “Helen is just in here, in my office. Would you like a hot chocolate to drink as you talk to her?”

“Yes please,” Becky answered me with a little smile. I smiled back at her, but something about how innocent this child looked as I led her into my office gave me another pang of guilt in my chest. Once again, I led her over to my sofa, where Helen, a young witch from the Ministry was already sat. I set about heating up some milk in the corner of my office, leaving Helen to introduce herself to Becky. I glanced furtively back at the pair – and to my relief, Becky looked fairly relaxed. After I gave Becky her hot chocolate, I retreated to my desk, where I sat reading _The Daily Prophet_ whilst keeping one ear on the conversation.

What I heard Becky admit about the home life of the three children over the next hour truly turned my stomach. I had been a teacher for a long time, I had heard a lot about some very unsuitable homes over the years; but this had to be up there with the worst. It was no wonder that Ella’s mental health had suffered, or that Jack had taken to acting out so much. I was determined, now, that none of the three would ever have to go back to the care of their parents.

Helen kept a very calm exterior during the interview. When she finally put her quill down, closing her notebook of pages and pages about the Nunes family, she gave Becky a little smile before looking to me. I quietly closed my newspaper and moved my chair over so that I was sat across from her and Becky.

“Thank you for talking to me, Becky,” Helen said kindly. “Thank you for being so honest with me.”

To Helen’s credit, Becky didn’t exactly look upset by the conversation, but it was clear that she was shaken. I tried to keep my face neutral in case she looked up at me.

“Now, we need to find you somewhere safe to stay for a little while,” Helen continued, glancing back over to me again.

“I want to stay with Jack and Ella,” Becky burst out immediately, looking up at Helen in panic.

“We won’t keep you all apart for long,” Helen quickly reassured her. “Just for a few days. Until I can talk to Jack and Ella and find out what they have to tell me. About what things were like at your mum’s house.”

Becky looked back over to me, and I could tell just from the look that she wanted me to intervene. Even though I knew Helen wouldn’t want to keep Becky here, I felt undeniably guilty that she was going somewhere alone. I knew it was necessary, I knew she couldn’t stay sleeping on my sofa, but something about the situation felt wrong.

Still, I put a smile on my face. “Helen knows a lot about keeping children safe,” I told Becky, trying to sound upbeat. “I’m quite sure that you will be safe and comfortable.”

She looked away but didn’t say anything. “I’ve been to your mum’s house and collected some of your things,” Helen told her encouragingly. “Everything is waiting there for you.”

Becky frowned. “My mum let you in the house?” she said, sounding highly surprised.

Helen looked slightly shifty. “She wasn’t there at the time,” she answered, scratching her nose.

Helen glanced at me and I could probably have given a pretty good guess at where Becky’s mother was if she wasn’t at home. But telling Becky her mother was in Law Enforcement custody would upset her and I silently agreed with Helen that it wasn’t the moment to broach that subject.

Becky sighed. “OK,” she said, still clearly a little afraid but somewhat mollified. “Where am I going?”

“Well, there’s a lovely couple called Kelly and Susan who take in children for a few days when they need it,” Helen said brightly, clearly relieved to be off the subject of Becky’s mum. “They have two girls there at the moment, both nine-years-old like you.”

Becky looked between me and Helen for a minute, before finally sighing again. “OK,” she said again. Then something seemed to occur to her. “Ella’s a lesbian,” she told us conversationally.

A clear moment of amusement flashed across Helen’s face and I had to suppress a smile myself. It was something I had heard rumours about, but announcing it like that was only something a child could do.

“That’s great,” said Helen, as I took a sip of my tea to hide my smile. “I’m sure they will like to hear about that.” She gave Becky an encouraging smile. “Would it be OK if I take you there now, Becky?”

Becky hesitated. “Just for a few days? Then I can see Ella again?”

Helen nodded solemnly. “Just for a few days.”

There was a short pause, but then Becky nodded too. “Yeah, OK,” she agreed, with a little more resolve.

“Brilliant,” said Helen with a small smile. She stood up from the sofa and a little cautiously, Becky followed suit. She hesitated before turning to me.

“Thank you for having me,” she said, with big eyes. Before I could reply, she threw her arms around me again and gave me a tight hug.

“That’s quite alright,” I said, patting Becky on the back gently. In truth, I found myself holding back tears as Becky followed Helen into the grate and the two of them disappeared.

I knew Helen was to return the next day to talk to Jack, and I was already anticipating that talking with Jack would be much more challenging than talking with Becky. Still, I was much more used to dealing with fourth year Gryffindors than young children. I sent a note out to Jack, asking him to report to my office around 9am the next day.

I attempted an early night that night, putting my marking away after dinner and trying to take out a book. But somehow I couldn’t focus my mind on what I was reading. I could imagine Jack was climbing the walls in Gryffindor Tower – now Becky had left with Helen, I could have allowed him out, but I thought it better to contain him a little longer. At least in Gryffindor Tower, there were other students to keep him occupied. Granted, two of those students were Fred and George Weasley, but I would rather he play pranks with them in the common room than letting Jack roam the castle whilst het up about his sisters.

On the brighter side, I had received an update from Remus at St Mungo’s to say that Ella was improving physically. She was still bedbound at the moment but her organs were functioning better and her bone pain was decreasing. I got the impression however that she was still inclined to be tearful and wasn’t eating or sleeping much. Still, that could be addressed when she returned to the castle.

I eventually fell asleep around 1am and felt rather groggy when I woke up to my alarm at 7:30am. I washed and dressed quickly before sending a house elf up to Gryffindor with breakfast for Jack. I didn’t want to give him any excuse to leave the common room before coming to see me at 9am.

Predictably, it was barely five to nine when I heard a sharp knocking on my office door. Helen was already sat where she had sat yesterday, her notebook out already. I had warned her that Jack could be – energetic? Boisterous? - but she didn’t seem phased. I rather got the impression that she dealt with a lot of challenging children and adolescents.

I rose and opened the door quickly to see Jack practically rattling in my doorway. “Come in, Mr Nunes,” I said, determinedly composed, stepping aside to let him in. “Take a seat on the sofa.”

He looked up at me but didn’t say anything, instead heading straight to sit down on the sofa with Helen. “Where’s Becky?” he asked her immediately. “If you’re letting me down here then she must be somewhere else. I’m her brother. You have to tell me.”

Helen and I exchanged a glance but I kept silent. “I can’t tell you exactly where for the minute,” she said, her voice calm. “I will tell you, she’s with a foster family, and she’s safe.”

“When can I see her?” he came back at her quickly. “Ella thinks I’m looking after her here. Ella thinks she’s not on her own.”

“In a few days,” Helen replied calmly. “When I’ve had a chance to talk to both you and Ella about what things have been like at home.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. He seemed to have taken a disliking to her very quickly. It was this kind of attitude in Jack that I had been trying to warn her about. “Well, I’m here,” Jack said caustically. “Talk to me.”

“Watch your tone, Mr Nunes,” I said sharply to Jack almost automatically. “Helen may not be a member of Hogwarts staff but you will speak to her with respect.”

He sighed irritably, rubbing agitatedly at his arm. “I just don’t know what you want from us.”

Helen replied quickly. “Just the truth,” she said, still calm.

Jack snorted. “Look, she’s a shit mum. She’s obsessed with dark magic, she puts Ella and Becky and me in danger and she kicks off at the slightest thing. She’s married to a dickhead who enjoys watching us get hurt and who I’m pretty sure-” He stopped himself, squeezing his hands together.

Once again, this half-statement was ringing alarm bells for me. “You’re pretty sure of what?” I asked, with a frown.

There was a short silence, before Jack shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said shortly. “I’m not sure. You need to ask Ella about that.”

I sighed but didn’t push it any harder. I was going to have to ask Ella some difficult questions when she was well enough to come back to school. But right now, my focus needed to be on Jack. Even if he was physically fine, the things his mother and stepdad had been doing were clearly affecting him too.

“What else can you tell us?” I asked him, more gently.

Jack closed his eyes. “What do you want to know?” he replied, his teeth gritted but his voice quieter and calmer.

Though the interview ran more smoothly after that, with Helen able to ask her questions and get reasonable answers, it was just as hard to hear Jack admit some of the things that Becky had told us too. As his head of house, I felt partly responsible; should I have realised that something was going on for Jack? Ella’s self-harming might have been a more obvious sign that something was wrong, but maybe Jack’s acting out had been troubling too. I was frustrated with myself that I had dismissed Jack’s behaviour as the same kind of pranking that the Weasley twins perpetuated. I should have known it was something more.

Eventually Helen closed her notebook. Jack was sat staring at the floor now, his hands on the back of his neck. “Thank you for talking to me, Jack,” Helen said kindly. “I know it’s not easy.” She hesitated. “I’ll let Becky know I’ve spoken with you. And that you’re wishing her the best. Is that OK?”

Jack didn’t say anything but nodded, still staring at the floor. Helen looked back at me. “I’ll be in touch about when I can come and talk to Ella, when she’s a bit better,” she told me, her tone more business-like. I nodded at her and she stepped into the fireplace, leaving Jack and I alone.

I decided to break the silence after a moment. “You are now, of course, permitted to roam the castle as you normally would.”

Jack nodded again but to my surprise didn’t move to leave my office. Finally he looked up at me a little desperately. “Professor Lupin – he said that when kids he knew at school went into foster care, they didn’t get separated…” He held my eye contact and though he had not framed the sentence as a question, I knew what he was asking me.

I closed my eyes but nodded. “Professor Lupin is right,” I confirmed, more gently. “As I understand it, the Ministry try to keep siblings together.” I paused. “I feel quite sure that you and Becky and Ella will be spending the holidays together. Let Helen do her job and by Easter the three of you will have somewhere safe to stay when you’re not at school.”

Jack sighed. It was hard to see him like this. “I can offer you a cup of tea? And a biscuit?” I asked, watching the boy closely.

But Jack shook his head, finally standing up from the couch. Clearly that was one step too far for Jack to go this morning. He went to leave my office before stopping. “Thank you, professor,” he said seriously.

I could gleam from his tone exactly what he meant. I nodded solemnly in return. “If you need to talk, Mr Nunes…” I didn’t finish the sentence but I could tell from Jack’s face that I didn’t need to. He gave me a small smile and silently left my office, shutting the door behind him.


End file.
